A Shadow of a Doubt
by impastmybedtime
Summary: Badger Day was only one week away, and it was the perfect excuse to get Princess Vee to Daventry. Based on the 2015 "King's Quest". Graham/Vee and some Amaya/Whisper
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

King Graham of Daventry reclined in his desk chair as if it were his throne and looked down at his handiwork. He'd spent the entirety of his afternoon writing draft after draft, trying to concoct the perfect letter, and three hours later he finally finished his magnum opus. Amidst the sea of broken pen nibs, crumpled papers, and pools of spilled ink lay his masterpiece. Graham sighed blissfully and held up the parchment that displayed his hours of grueling work.

At the very top in his best calligraphy, he'd written the words, _Dear Vee._ Classy. Beautiful. Elegant. Graham couldn't remember producing something so refined. It was the perfect beginning to a perfect letter.

The rest of the page was blank.

Graham blinked, certain he was seeing things. He stared at _Dear Vee_ again and let his eyes move down the page.

Still blank.

"No," he mumbled. There was absolutely no way he had spent three hours just writing her name. He'd remembered every thought racing through his mind while he was writing and was sure he'd jotted these thoughts down. Graham flipped the page over to see if maybe he'd scribbled something back there, but that side was even emptier than the front.

" _Zounds!"_ Graham tossed the paper aside so it fluttered gracefully into the graveyard of crumpled letters at his feet. This was ridiculous. He'd written letters before. He and Vee had been corresponding almost every day for the past few months. They kept each other up-to-date with the goings-on in their respective kingdoms, they spoke of books quite often (Graham had a stack of her recommendations by his bedside), and they'd even touched on Bridge Troll rebellions across the kingdoms (in which Graham went into detail about how he solved _that_ dispute with a singular pair of socks). Graham could talk about any subject under the sun with Vee, so why was writing _this_ letter giving him such a migraine?

He picked one of his drafts off the floor to see where he'd gone wrong. This one was riddled with red ink, as if someone was grading a first grader's spelling test rather than writing a love letter.

 _ **Dearest**_ _Vee,_

 _Your hair is like_ _ **(INSERT SOMETHING DARK HERE),**_ _your eyes are depthless brownish orbs_ _ **(someone told me never to use "orbs" to describe someone's eyes, but also I'm the king and I'll do what I want),**_ _and your lips are like two soft,_ _ **succulent**_ _ **,**_ _velvety_ _ **(CAKES?**_ _ **VELVET?**_ _ **WHAT ELSE IS VELVETY?)**_

Graham crumpled the letter and pitched it forcefully into the wastebasket, cursing his stupidity with words and his inability to tell Vee exactly how his feelings had deepened for her. He grabbed up another failed draft and tore it open.

 _My Dearest Vee,_

Already it sounded too formal, and much too forward. They hadn't talked about whether Vee was even "his" to begin with.

 _I hope you're happy, because I can no longer repress my feelings for you (love-type feelings). I can't get you out of my head, I can barely eat, and every time I think about you I get these horrible pains in my chest and I know it's all your fault._

Graham felt his face grow warm. Okay, maybe he'd come on a little too strong.

 _I love your wit. I love your stubborn little frown. I love how you get when you talk about "Lady Knights with Big Swords" (I'm on book three: Queen Auralia has just slain the knight who catcalled her in book two, and I'm so jazzed that the phrase_ _ **"Yas Queen, slaaaay!"**_ _finally applies)._

 _I think about you every moment I'm awake, and I dream about you every night. (Seriously, last night I dreamt I was working on some addendums and you tried to get me to make a law about legalizing big cheeses in Daventry. This would be ridiculous in real life because big cheese is already super legal here, but anyway, that's not the point I'm trying to make...)_

Graham crumpled the letter up and tossed it back onto the ground, too embarrassed to continue. Perhaps telling Vee about his feelings through post wasn't such a good idea after all. Truthfully, he probably wouldn't be much better telling her in person—just the thought of being in Vee's presence again made him all fluttery. Graham hadn't seen her since the day they broke away from Hagatha's spell, but he remembered every detail about the day fondly. He remembered Vee's expression of relief and vigor as their feet touched down on the grass, he remembered the space between them vanishing as he came to stand right beside her, and he remembered the faint smell of rosewater in her hair.

Unfortunately for their budding mutual attraction, Vee had to return to Eastern Kolyma right away. Graham accompanied both Vee and Neese back to their respective kingdoms, despite Vee's stubborn protestations that she could get there on her own. Before disappearing behind her city gates, Vee made Graham promise to write. He promised, and drafted a letter the moment he stepped into his castle study.

Because of conflicting schedules and two kingdoms in need of rulers, Graham and Vee had not seen each other since that day. Her absence had only made Graham's heart grow infuriatingly fonder, but he often wondered if Vee shared these same sentiments. What if she'd lost interest in him? What if she'd forgotten what he looked like? What if she'd met a handsomer king from a handsomer kingdom?

These were all valid fears, but the thought that scared him the most was the possibility of Vee's indifference towards him. When Hagatha had kidnapped the princesses, she created an enchantment to ensure that only true love would break it and set everyone free. What broke the spell was Hagatha's acceptance of herself and Vee's love for her best friend, Neese. Graham's crush on Vee had nothing to do with breaking the spell: he was simply the one holding the adventuring rope. What if Vee had subconsciously convinced herself she liked Graham in an attempt to break the tower's spell? Now that she'd been released, what was stopping Vee from letting her feelings fizzle into nothingness?

All this self-reflection was making him sick, so Graham stood up from his desk chair and went to the window for a change of scenery. He could see all the way down to the town square from his perch, and stood here for a while watching the townsfolk sweep up snow and string up lanterns for the upcoming festival. Graham sighed, his breath fogging up the glass, and he absently traced his finger along it, a pout on his lips. For a few minutes, he observed his people struggling to hang monstrous banners that proclaimed, "BADGER DAY NEXT WEEK" and "WILL THE BADGER SEE HIS SHADOW? COME FOR THE CEREMONY, STAY FOR THE FESTIVAL!"

Graham squinted at the words more closely and something akin to elation ignited in his chest. With renowned vigor, Graham leapt back to his writing desk, tripping over his cape and knocking over his chair in his haste. Bending over the mahogany desk, he dipped a new quill in the ink and wrote _Dear Vee_ at the top of a brand-new page.

Sending Vee a love confession was not the way to approach the situation—he'd have to tell her in person, and inviting Vee to the Badger Day Festival was the perfect excuse to get her over here.


	2. A Distressful Visit

**A Distressful Visit**

One of the many things Daventry was known for was their speedy postal system. Thanks to the flock of messenger falcons (a gift from a desert town in Llewdor), Graham no longer had to send his loud, clunky knights off to deliver the mail. Letters could be delivered to Eastern Kolyma in less than a day. This gave Graham ample time to carefully construct an invitation to Vee, cautious not to mention those pesky love-type feelings this time.

After only two big edits and one rewrite, he finally had a letter worthy of his princess:

 _Dear Vee,_

 _I don't know if I've told you about Daventry's upcoming holiday taking place next Friday. It's something I came up with around my coronation to get the kingdom excited for Spring, and we hold a firelight festival and dance after the main ceremony. I'm writing to cordially invite you to our very own Badger Day Festival (I promise it's less weird than it sounds, the people really get into it)._

 _I've invited Neese for Friday (it will be good to get the Princess Squad back together again!) but I wanted to extend a special invitation for you to come a day early. I'd love to show you around the kingdom, and I have a guest bedroom ready for you to say the word._

 _Please RSVP ASAP._

 _Sincerely Yours,_

 _Graham_

After reading it over to make sure he didn't miss any key details, Graham quickly tied it to the leg of his fastest carrier falcon and sent it off into the winter sky. Graham sighed in temporary relief and perpetual anticipation.

He was surprised and delighted to receive Vee's response that very evening during dinner. The falcon flew right into the dining hall, wheezing with exhaustion, and crashed into the bowl of peas in its haste. Graham made sure to dust the bird off before unfurling the parchment tied to its's leg with a green ribbon. Vee's elegant, tiny handwriting was unmistakable. It read:

 _Dear Graham,_

 _Your bird is nipping my fingers (your orders?) so here is my hurried RSVP._

 _Yes, I would love to visit Daventry for your Badger Day Festival. I'm looking forward to hearing what "Badger Day" is, because truthfully, it sounds a little ridiculous, just like you._

 _That was meant as a fond compliment—it's hard for me to articulate my thoughts with this bird stepping on the parchment as I write._

 _I will ask father if I can have the carriage for next Thursday morning. He has been a bit hesitant in letting me go out on my own ever since the Tower incident, but I'm sure he'll oblige._

 _Vee_

Unable to contain his excitement, Graham let out a celebratory yelp, which startled the falcon and sent it falling backwards into the peas again.

"Are you all right, sire?" asked Guard #3, who quickly came over to replenish the bowl.

"She said she was _fond_ of me!" Graham exclaimed. "Well, she gave me a 'fond compliment', but that still counts, right?"

"Um, sure, sire."

Graham _whooped_ again. "Guard Number Three," he ordered in his kingliest voice, "please drop those peas and bring me a quill and parchment! Post-haste!"

Guard #3 hesitated before releasing the bowl right on the floor to fetch the king what he asked for. Graham swept his arm across the table, brushing aside his dinner and sending silverware clanging to the floor. When Guard #3 returned with his request, Graham began to scribble out another response message.

"Ah, may I ask what you're doing, your majesty?" asked the guard, peering over his shoulder.

Graham scoffed as if it were obvious. "I'm thanking Princess Valanice for her timely response and asking what she'd like for dinner when she arrives. I also need to know what books she'd like on her bedside table, and if she prefers red or crimson sheets."

"I don't imagine myself an expert, sire, but shouldn't you wait until tomorrow to send her another letter? You don't want to overwhelm the lady."

Graham ignored this and finished the letter with a flourish. Vee was finally coming to visit, and although that was a good sign, it still didn't tell him exactly how she felt about him. Badger Day was the perfect excuse to be alone with the princess. "Thursday night _must_ be perfect!" Graham declared. He tied the note to the falcon's leg, who was lying exhausted on his dinner plate and didn't move. Graham frowned. "Fetch me another falcon!" he commanded.

The rest of the weekend passed in this fashion. Every time Graham would send Vee a letter, he'd remember something else and send her another one.

And another.

And another.

There simply was too much to say and too many things Graham needed to know before having Vee over. In one message, he asked whether she'd prefer to stay in the guest room near the gardens or the one near the library. In another, he wrote out the entire song lyrics of "Daventry Rhapsody" (it clocked in at four pages long) because he forgot what he originally meant to ask and didn't want to waste the parchment. Vee responded to some of Graham's anxious notes, but he was sending them out so rapidly that by the time she'd reply, Graham was already knee-deep in a completely different topic or question.

On Sunday evening, Larry had to pry Graham's hands off a quill to keep him from writing at the dinner table.

"The poor boy," tutted Guard #3 to Guard #2. They watched as Graham chewed restlessly on his food only to realize he was eating his napkin. "He so much wants everything to be perfect for the princess's arrival."

"The sooner she gets here, the better," grumbled Guard #2. "She's probably gotten thirty-some letters by now."

They watched Graham sneak a quill from his cape and begin to write on his hand.

"And more on the way," said Guard #2.

Between cranking out more letters and getting the castle in shape for Vee's arrival, Graham hardly had time to sleep or focus long enough for his kingly duties. His mind was reeling faster than it ever had, and the stress only resulted in more letter-writing. Soon, every single falcon in the kingdom had been sent off in the direction of Eastern Kolyma, leaving Daventry with no way to send their mail.

Graham was holed away in his study Monday morning when there was a hesitant knock on the door.

"Ah…pardon me, Graham." It was Larry, poking his helmeted head into the room and clanking it once on the doorframe.

Graham was hunched over his desk, surrounded by countless piles of crumpled letters and envelopes. Sealing wax dripped unceremoniously from the candle at the desk, leaving a hardening, crunchy patch on Graham's slipper. He lifted his heavy gaze to face Larry, showcasing the dark bags under his eyes. "I'm a little busy at the moment," he said distractedly, stifling a yawn. He had been up all night concocting a poem of sorts, but his writing was so sloppy it could have been a recipe for soup.

"Of course, I don't wish to interrupt." Larry wrung his hands, looking like he very much wished to interrupt. "But, ah, sire, there is something I must tell you."

Graham let out a hefty sigh and spun around to face his interrupter. "Tell me quickly, then. I forgot to ask what Vee would like for dinner Thursday night and need to send this right away. She is a classy lady, and deserves the classiest meal Castle Daventry has to offer."

Larry cleared his throat. "Well, that's kind of the thing, sire. You see…Princess Valanice is here."

Graham stared at the sheepish guard in his doorway and forgot to breathe for a moment. "What?" The question came out as a squeak.

"Princess Valanice of Eastern Kolyma is here," repeated Larry in his guard-announcer-y voice. "Well, not _here_ here, per se. She knocked on the front gate and now she's waiting for you in the main hall. You were busy, so I thought it would be okay if I showed her into the castle. It's quite cold outside, and we thought you wouldn't want her waiting in the snow."

"Yes…yes, that would be bad," murmured Graham, still unable to process what was happening.

"You told us she was coming on Thursday, so as you can imagine, we were all quite surprised at her sudden appearance."

"Sudden appearance," Graham echoed.

"Not that we were displeased! It was wonderful to finally meet the woman you've done nothing but talk about for months. She's just as beautiful as the way you described, I told her."

"Y-you _told_ her?!" Graham said, jumping down from his perch and slipping on a pile of papers.

"Certainly," said Larry. "Did you not want the princess to know how much you've been obsessing over her?"

"Of course not! It makes me look…I look…" Graham glanced down at himself and gasped in horror. He was still wearing his snowman pajama pants and ratty _College_ t-shirt. "VEE IS HERE AND I HAVEN'T BATHED IN TWO DAYS."

"Well, you've got your cape on, at least," said Larry helpfully.

"UNHELPFUL," Graham snarled. What was Vee doing here this early in the week? Did she get her dates mixed up? Was she passing by and simply came to inquire after his health? Either way, Graham had to make himself presentable as soon as humanly possible, or he risked looking like a fool. Limbs tangled in his cape, he flailed past Larry towards the door. His room was right down the hall, so maybe he could slip inside and put on real clothes before Vee saw him.

"Graham?"

He froze to see that Vee was standing right in the hallway, looking rosy and lovely, a few unmelted snowflakes peppering her dark hair. Her brown eyes were brightened from the cold, and Graham was suddenly hyper-aware of his un-showered stench and bloodshot eyes.

"Oh, Vee!" His voice came out much more manic than he had anticipated. "It's so good to see you!"

Larry appeared from behind to shout, "May I present, Princess Valanice!"

Graham gritted his teeth. "Yes, thank you, Larry. You may go."

Having done his job, Larry promptly marched off. One look in Vee's direction and Graham could see that her eyes were laughing.

"I'm sorry to drop in on you so unexpectedly," said Vee. "Oh look, I haven't given you time to dress."

"Please! You're welcome here any time!" Graham wrapped himself in his big, red cape as casually as he could manage. He wanted to cram himself into one of the pockets. "But, um, if you don't mind me asking because it's really not a big deal or anything but…what are you doing here?"

If Graham wasn't feeling so stressed out, he would have appreciated the pursing of her lips. She was just _so pretty_ and he felt like he'd just crawled out of a flaming garbage can.

"It's a funny story," said Vee, reaching into the satchel at her waist. "You see, I've received upwards of thirty letters this weekend with various messages ranging from questions to song lyrics, each one more disjointed than the last." She held one up for Graham to see. "This one just says 'Toast'."

Graham squinted. He vaguely remembered waking up in the middle of the night with the perfect opening to a letter in mind. He had written it down and went right back to sleep. This must have been the result.

" _Preposterous,"_ Graham said, spitting. "Someone must have been writing in my name!"

Vee pointed to the bottom of the page. "Isn't that the royal seal?"

Graham covered his mouth with his hand to prevent spitting on her face again, and to save her from his foul breath. "Someone must have stolen it."

"This is your name. And your handwriting."

He pressed his lips together, sweating. "Hm. Yes."

Vee slipped the stack of letters back into her bag, expression unreadable. "I know the invitation said Thursday, but I thought it would be in your best interest if I came to personally stop you from sending any more of these."

Graham swallowed. Oh no. He'd gone too far. He had annoyed her so greatly that Vee had to travel miles through the snow to personally tell him to shut up. Not only was he unwashed, barely dressed, and sleep-deprived, he'd singlehandedly lost the girl he was trying so desperately to woo.

"I…I suppose I could have toned it down," said Graham in a very small voice. He thought she'd made him crazy before, but he'd forgotten how attractive she looked in green and how rare her smiles appeared.

And now he'd lost her. Probably forever.

Graham cleared his throat gruffly and stood up to his full height, still wrapped in his cape. If he was going to go down, it was going to be with dignity. "Well, Princess Valanice, thank you for coming all the way here to inform me of my blunder. I apologize on behalf of myself and my kingdom." He took a deep, steadying breath. "So. I can send for the royal carriage immediately to personally escort you back home."

"Home?" she asked.

"Yes. I assume you've only come to end our…to stop my letters. Completely my fault."

"What about Badger Day? Isn't that on Friday?"

Graham blinked. "Well, I…wait, you want to stay?"

Vee was biting her lip hard. "I decided that the best way to save your messenger falcons was to come to Daventry early. I know I'm a few days ahead of schedule, but you seemed so eager to have me here, I thought it might be all right."

Graham could hardly believe his ears. Something inside of him melted into a goopy puddle. "I…yes. Yes, of course you should stay, if you want to."

"Good," said Vee. "Now every time you have something to tell me, you don't need to resort to more letter-writing."

"Yeah! Now I can just yell down the hall." Graham laughed, too loudly, and immediately shut his mouth. He was still exhausted, but now that Vee didn't hate him, he felt delightfully lightheaded. "Good," he said.

"Good," she replied.

Graham tore his gaze away to stare at the floor instead—he didn't want her to see the blush creeping up. "Well, you must be starving from all that travelling! Join me for breakfast?"

Vee gave a tiny curtsey. "I'd love to." She looked him up and down. "But perhaps you'd like to get ready first? It's my fault for dropping in on you, so I'm sure you'd like to…"

Vee always seemed to know exactly what he was thinking. Graham gave a colossal sigh of relief. "Thank you," he said gratefully, and stumbled off towards the royal bath.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Graham stood in front of the magic mirror, brushing obsessively at his wet hair and whispering last-minute questions into the enchanted glass:

"Mirror, what are some good topics of breakfast conversation?"

"Mirror, should I have shaved my armpits?"

"Mirror, help, I'm stalling too much."

When he finally did pry himself away, he took one last look at his reflection and nodded appreciatively. _This_ was how he was supposed to look when Vee arrived: handsome, clean-shaven, and not disgusting. He was sporting his casual winter tunic (the blue one he looked banging in), his leather doublet, and of course, his dashing red cape with the addition of dark fur around the collar. He hoped that his cleaned-up appearance would replace the image Vee had of him this morning.

They had their breakfast at the dining room table, which was at least ten feet long and made conversation especially difficult. Graham tried to solve this problem by picking up his plate of pancakes and walking the length of the table to sit at Vee's right hand.

"Ah, sire!" chimed Guard #2, who was standing guard in the corner. "Addendum 3578 declares that the king 'Must Sit at the Head of the Royal Table During Every Meal'!"

Graham rolled his eyes. "Couldn't we make an exception? I don't want to be shouting at the princess."

"Sorry, your majesty. The rules are in place for a reason."

"Some more than others," Graham grumbled.

To this, Vee stood up. "I'll join you at the other end, if you'll have my company," she offered smoothly.

Graham held back the small thrill running through his chest and gladly led Vee to the other side of the table.

"Apologies, your highnesses," interrupted the guard again. "Addendum 3579 declares that royal guests of honor 'Must Sit Opposite of the Head of the Royal Table During Every Meal'!"

"That's even more ridiculous!" said Graham.

"I don't make the rules, I only enforce them. Sorry, your majesty."

"No, you're not," Graham grumbled before turning back to the princess. "Looks like we'll be shouting until I can get that changed."

And so, the two spent breakfast on opposite ends of the enormous table. They kept the conversations short, which was both a blessing and a curse since Graham missed her proximity, but at least their distance gave him time to think.

Graham's goal for today was simple: find out if Vee shared his romantic feelings through the Art of Subtlety. He was painfully aware that subtlety was _not_ one of his strong suits—in fact if he were to tally his Subtlety Points, he'd probably have record stats of -2. But thanks to Vee's early arrival, he now had five whole days to pick her brain and not be an idiot.

* * *

After a quick breakfast, Graham grabbed Vee's cloak off the hook, eager to show her around Daventry.

"You don't mind a stroll in the snow, do you?" he asked, offering his arm.

She slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow. "Not if it's with a good friend," she said.

Graham stopped in his tracks, one foot hovering over the front stoop.

" _Good friend"?_ he thought. _As in… "just friends"?_

It was hard enough reading Vee in the first place since her disposition was more reserved than most. Even so, the word "friend" sank into Graham's heart like an arrow, and all the improbable suspicions he'd been stewing over came flooding back. Is that all she thought of him? A _good friend?_

"Graham? You there?"

He shook his head. "Huh?"

Vee was staring up at him, her black eyelashes already flecked with snowflakes. He hadn't even noticed how far they'd walked from the castle.

"Forgive me, I was…lost in thought," said Graham, pulling his cap further down his brow.

"What were you thinking about?" she asked.

Graham staggered over a snowdrift. "Uh…the story you began at breakfast but never finished! How does it end?"

 _Good save._

Vee raised an eyebrow. "If you're referring to the story about me getting in my carriage and riding over here, then that's how it ends." Vee splayed out her hands in a halfhearted "ta-da" sort of gesture.

 _Nevermind._

Graham couldn't tell if she thought him stupid or if she was simply poking fun. "Well. It was a good story all the same," he muttered.

The two walked in silence for a minute, and nothing passed between them but the crunching of snow under their feet. They strolled through the royal gardens, which might have been more impressive if all the plants weren't coated in ice. Graham didn't think he'd have Vee on his arm this soon, and yet here she was, making him act stupid, her skirts brushing against his legs.

He only wished he could read her mind.

"So where are you taking me?" Vee asked after a minute of admiring the glass-coated branches and plants.

"I figured we'd swing by the town square first," Graham replied, quickening his pace. For weeks, one of his most self-indulgent dreams was to stroll through town with the loveliest princess on his arm. Now that she was here, Graham couldn't wait to show her off.

Their first stop was Wente's Bakery. It was stiflingly warm inside and a welcome change to the freezing cold of the outside. The round baker was more than delighted to make Vee's acquaintance and shook her hand vigorously for a full minute.

"This winter's a brutal one," Wente commented as he watched the two shiver in front of the counter. "We're hoping that pesky badger crawls right back into his burrow this year."

Vee blew on her hands. "Would someone kindly explain what happens on this 'Badger Day' of yours? I've been mulling it over for days and the closest equivalent I can come up with is Llewdor's infamous 'Weasel Stomping Day'."

Wente looked horrified. "Oh, my dear, _no!_ There is no stomping of any kind!"

"It's sort of a welcoming of the Spring," corrected Graham quickly. "According to folklore, if a badger sees his shadow on the first Friday of the second month, the kingdom will have six more weeks of winter. If the badger does _not_ see his shadow, the kingdom is blessed with an early Spring."

Vee _hmmed_ thoughtfully, and Graham knew she was weighing the validity of the legend. She was never one to simply believe things on the spot.

It wasn't until Graham and Vee were back in the cold with two peppermint hot cocoas that Vee said bluntly, "You made that up, didn't you?"

"Whatever do you mean?" Graham took an innocent sip of his cocoa and promptly burned his tongue.

"That 'old Daventry legend'. I've read the history books, and I don't think such a folktale exists."

Graham grumpily nursed his burnt mouth. Zounds, she was too smart for his games. "Fine, fine. _Yes,_ I made up the folktale the first year I was coronated."

Vee grinned smugly. The way she wrinkled her nose was so cute he wanted to throw up.

"Not to offend," she said, "but unless you have a magical badger who can _actually_ predict the weather, the holiday seems a bit random to me."

Graham gave himself time to think of an acceptable response. They stopped in the middle of the town square where his tree was growing tall and strong despite the cold. Its naked branches twisted towards the sky, silhouettes against the grey clouds.

"My first year as ruler," Graham began, "Daventry experienced one of its most brutal winters in its history."

"Convenient," Vee quipped.

"I did my best to provide the kingdom what it needed to get through the months, but morale was low. No one believed the winter would ever end." Graham listened to the branches of his tree creaking in the wind. "My solution to this problem was…a party."

Vee tilted her head to one side. He flinched, and his brain went wild.

 _She's doing_ that thing _again, isn't she? That silent judge-y thing. Oh, zounds, she's staring at me. What does she want? She's waiting for me to explain myself isn't she? What do I do? Do I make something up? Do I pretend I left the iron on and go back to the castle? Should I run? Fight or flight?_

Graham quickly silenced these thoughts and plowed onwards. "I made up a holiday to get the people hopeful again. After the 'badger' tells them to hold out for Spring, we put on a festival with bonfires, lanterns, a dance, and food for everyone in the square." Graham shrugged rather lamely. "I probably could have done something more productive with the time and money spent on a silly festival. But the people's happiness was so important to me… _is_ so important to me. I just wanted to do something nice for them."

Graham took a long swig from his cocoa and waited for Vee to laugh at the impracticality of it all. He waited for her to list off the reasons why the concept was absurd and pointless in the long run. He waited. And waited. A laugh never came.

After a minute of silence, he stole a glance in her direction. Vee was gazing at him, a genuine smile gracing her mouth. "I think that's beautiful, Graham."

The result of her words was instantaneous. He felt himself burn pink from the base of his neck to the tips of his ears. He bumbled a "thank you" and downed the rest of his drink so he wouldn't have to look her in the face again.

* * *

Vee had the afternoon to settle into her bedroom (Graham ended up offering her the one next to the library), giving Graham ample time to burst into the kitchen and speak with the chef about dinner.

"I want to serve something fit for a princess tonight," said Graham, fishing inside his cape for the list of fancy dishes he'd jotted down earlier.

The chef frowned. "But sire, you always have mutton nuggets on Monday nights. They're your favorite! Look…" The chef held up what he was currently working on: two breaded mounds of tasty-looking, bite-size pieces of mutton.

Graham let out a tiny gasp. "Are those shaped like…dragons?"

The chef nodded encouragingly. "You _love_ Nugget Mondays."

Graham whimpered and tore his gaze away from his favorite little morsels. _"I_ know that, and _you_ know that," he said seriously. "But _Vee_ doesn't need to know that." With a pained sigh, Graham held out his list. "She has to think I'm cultured."

The chef studied it carefully. "What is 'beef borg-yion-yion'?"

"Don't question the list, Bobby. Just do what you need to do."

It wasn't until the beef stew was set in front of him for dinner that Graham remembered that he hated beef. He pretended to slurp it and when Vee wasn't looking, he promptly dumped his spoonful back into the bowl.

"Is your room satisfactory?" Graham asked from across the table, unsure what else to talk about. His brain was still feeling fried from trying to conjure interesting topics of conversation all day.

He could just barely see Vee nod through the three colossal bouquets of roses sitting in the very center of the table. When he'd mentioned to Larry that he wanted flowers for dinner, he hadn't meant it to be this excessive.

"Very!" called Vee.

There had to be a better way to hold a conversation that didn't involve a screaming match, thought Graham. He glanced at Guard #2, who was chaperoning dinner, and grabbed up his plate.

"Oh, darn, I am all out of that delicious bread!" Graham proclaimed. "Princess Valanice, I am coming to your side of the table to acquire more. No need for you to move, Guard #2!"

Before the guard could stop him, Graham sprinted over to where Vee sat and loaded up his plate as slowly as he could. From here, he lowered his voice so only she could hear.

"So, the room beside the library suits you?" he asked quickly.

Vee hid a laugh with her napkin, as if the guard wasn't already suspicious. "I didn't know your library had the entire collection of _Riddles of the Aisles,"_ she said in an undertone. "I've been trying to get my hands on the third volume for years, and you have it here."

"Sire?" called the guard. "I can fetch you whatever you need, just please go back to—"

Graham waved the entire loaf of bread in the air. "I've got it, no need to worry!" he said, and jogged back to his assigned seat. Two bites of bread later, he proclaimed that he needed another glass of wine and ran the length of the table back to Vee.

"If you don't finish the series by the time you leave, feel free to take the books with you," Graham whispered as he leisurely poured himself a glass. "Books are meant to be read, and they're just gathering dust on my shelves."

Guard #2 marched over. "Sire, I do not wish to ask you again!"

"You certainly are a benevolent ruler," Vee whispered with a sly wink.

Graham swallowed hard. His lack of sleep over the past few days made him too tired to register this under "flirting", and instead her gesture sent him into another spiral of uncertainty as Guard #2 escorted him back to his seat.

He sat at the head of the table for a few minutes more, the wine making him delightfully dizzy as he tried to get a good view of Vee between the spaces in the centerpiece. She wasn't nearly close enough for his liking. When Guard #2's gaze was elsewhere, Graham made one last sneaky trip over to Vee's chair. When he got there, he realized he hadn't thought of anything to say and instead, stood there dumbly just as Vee leaned over the table to sniff one of the roses poking over the vase closest to her.

" _I wish I was that rose,"_ Graham thought wistfully.

"What did you say?"

Oh. Had he said that out loud instead of in his head? Graham jumped backwards.

"I SAID YOU'RE GROSS," he said loudly, already backing away towards the exit. "GOODNIGHT VALANICE."

Mortified, Graham walked quickly past the guard, out of the dining hall, and when he was certain he was out of Vee's sight, he sprinted up the stairs and tore down the hall.

That night Graham practically fell into bed, groaning in defeat, and his dreams were plagued by visions of him making a fool of himself again and again.


	3. Business-Minded

**Business-Minded**

After nine hours of dead sleep and in the cold light of day, Graham could look back on all the things he did and said on Monday with a clear mind and feel twice as stupid. He was usually that scatterbrained on regular days, but the appearance of Vee had stoked the fires of his heart and sent him operating at the speed of Amaya's Crumbler. He couldn't imagine what he must have looked like, flailing about and scrambling while Vee watched from a safe distance.

He covered his face with his arms as if that would erase the trauma.

As much as he wanted to, he could not stay in bed all day and wallow in his mistakes. There was only one thing left to do, and that was to face the music. Graham hauled himself out of bed, got dressed, and trudged down the hallway on a (king's) quest for coffee. As he turned to head down the staircase, he noticed the door to the guest bedroom was ajar. Now, Graham usually didn't like to snoop, but the temptation was right there and it was wide open. He could argue that he'd never had a guest in the castle before, and didn't know the rules of decorum. Plus, if Vee was in there (and decent), he could get the apology out of the way right now.

He braced himself and knocked on the door.

"Come in!"

Graham stepped in and glanced around. The guest bedroom had never looked this lived-in before. The four-poster bed was no longer bare but weighed down with thick purple and green quilts. The fireplace was crackling merrily, its light flickering on the cold, stone walls. Graham found Vee sitting by the balcony doors, wrapped in a blanket so he could only see her head from the top and her hands poking out of the middle. She sipped from her steaming mug as the winter sun fell in a slant along her eyelids. Her hair was down and fell in dark curls along her back.

"Ah…" Graham realized he'd never seen her with her hair down before. It framed her face like a waterfall. "Sorry, I don't mean to disturb you."

"Nonsense. Come sit." Vee sat up straighter and began fixing him a cup of tea from the tray she had sitting on the little table. He wasn't sure how she'd acquired it, but she seemed to know her way around a castle well enough, so he let it go. Graham settled in the chair across from Vee and tried not to stare.

"You take sugar, right?" Vee asked.

Of course she knew. "Thank you."

She tucked a stray lock of hair behind one ear and for some reason, this gave him the courage to say, "Listen, Vee, I'm really sorry about yesterday. I wasn't myself." He thought for a moment. "Well, I was _less_ of myself."

Vee passed him the cup. "You don't need to apologize."

"I do. I was a mess. And I left you at the dinner table by yourself," he added, remembering his humiliating display the night before. "I, uh, don't really remember what I said. I just know I wanted to stick my foot in my mouth as soon as I said it."

Vee laughed then—a sudden burst of mirth—and immediately covered her mouth in what he could only peg as embarrassment. "I was the one who showed up here without telling you. You had every right to be flustered," she told him. "I commend you for taking me in at all. I would have thrown me back into the snow."

Graham felt a weight suddenly lift from his shoulders. "You do realize that you're taking full responsibility for my behavior?"

Vee frowned in serious deliberation. "I suppose I am," she said.

Graham leaned back in his chair and considered her, unable to keep a straight face when the only thing he could see poking through the blanket was Vee's head. "I can't promise I'll be any less crazy today. Or the next day. Are you aware of what you're getting yourself into, princess?"

"I do," she said, smirking behind her teacup.

As they finished their tea and watched the sunrise, Graham decided that this was far superior to the drafty dining room. There were no guards to remind him of the required seating arrangements, allowing him to sit as close to Vee as he wanted. Graham had never seen her look this laid-back before. She had even drawn her knees up to her chest and was wrapped completely in the blanket like a round, warm dumpling.

He could get used to mornings like this, but Graham would never tell her that.

* * *

The throne room was a bit warm, like a sleeping bag, Graham thought. He sat on his throne, chin in his fist, and tried not to doze off in the middle of the Badger Day Planning Committee meeting. A little known fact about the king was that he was actually quite terrible at planning parties. His first year on the throne, Graham had tried to throw the Summer Solstice Festival by himself and ended up booking a venue too small for anyone to move comfortably in the space, which made the water balloon toss much less fun.

It was best to have a team of experts handle the planning.

"What do you think about hosting the festivities inside the castle this year?" asked one of the committee members, which just so happened to also be Guard #3.

"We've always held the ceremony outside," Graham yawned.

"Some of the townsfolk were complaining about the cold."

"It's Winter. It's cold," said Graham, wishing there was a clock in the room. He wasn't sure how long he'd been in here but judging from the sunlight inching across the floor, they'd been at this for a good long while. "That's why Wente serves cocoa and why we have the bonfires."

"If we did host it in our ballroom," piped Guard #5, who was also on the committee, "we would have to find a way to _contain_ the fire for the people to enjoy, don't you all agree?"

Graham held up his hands. "There will be _no fires_ in the ballroom."

There was a collective chorus of disappointment from the rest of the committee. Graham took this opportunity to stand up, stretching his arms over his head. He'd told Vee that he would only be an hour, and he was certain that the argument about Outside versus Inside had lasted much longer than that. "Now, I think you're all capable of finishing up this meeting on your own, so if you'll excuse me…"

"We still need you to sign off on a few permits for the fireworks, your majesty!" said Guard #3. "And there's also the issue of…having fireworks."

"Why the rush, Graham?" asked Kyle, who coincidentally, was also on the committee. "The festival's in a few days and there's so much to do."

Graham was already inching towards the doors. "I promised the princess I would introduce her to Amaya today. I don't want to keep her waiting." Not only was Vee great company, but she also doubled as a good excuse to get out of boring meetings.

Guard #2 sighed in exasperation. "Haven't you seen the girl a fair amount today?" he asked. "You were in her room long enough this morning."

The room went deathly quiet as all eyes turned to the king, who practically shrunk under the accusatory stares.

"You…were in the princess' room this morning?" Kyle's voice was small, testing the waters. "What were you…?"

Graham felt five pairs of eyes burning into him.

"L-let's not jump to conclusions!" he stammered. "She invited me!"

"To do what, pray tell?"

"She—I— _we just had tea!"_

"Our king is no rapscallion," defended Guard #3. "It was a simple spot of tea, nothing more. Unless 'having tea' is a euphemism for something else…"

Graham puffed out his chest. "Exactly!" He hesitated. "Well, not the euphemism thing. But Princess Valanice and I had some business-related things to discuss this morning, so she invited me into her quarters for tea and a chat. We didn't even touch. At all." He took a steadying breath. Maybe the comment about "having business-related things" was a lie, but it was better than letting their minds wander in the other direction. "I trust that you will all put these rumors to rest?"

A sudden hush fell over the committee, and satisfied, Graham turned to take his leave.

"I heard the princess wasn't fully dressed," someone whispered.

"WE WERE PERFECTLY DECENT," Graham roared. "SHOULDN'T YOU ALL BE PLANNING A PARTY OR SOMETHING?"

"But sire…"

"NEW DECREE," Graham shouted above the protests, "EVERYONE IS TO MIND THEIR OWN BUSINESS FOR FOREVER UNTIL I SAY SO."

With an enormous huff, Graham stumbled out the double-doors and slammed them behind so they echoed throughout the hall.

People in the castle were going to talk, there was no doubt about that. After all, Graham never had a female-type guest stay over before. But this kind of gossip was humiliating to hear, and he dreaded the rumors coming back around to Vee. There was no privacy in the castle, and even an innocent tea party could be blown out of proportion thanks to the mouths that gabbed there.

* * *

The Badger Day preparations went on a lot longer than Graham had anticipated. The meetings and addendums and paperwork took him hours to get through, and with the morning's gossip hanging over his head, his brain was fried from stress by the time he was done. He'd promised to take Vee around to Amaya's smithy, but the comments of his guards had thrown him off a bit.

Graham never considered himself good at hiding his emotions, but today he would try very hard for Vee's sake. It was imperative that he got her out of the castle and away from the chatty guards.

"Get in here, you two!" barked Amaya Blackstone when Graham knocked on her door. "You'll freeze your tails off!"

They obeyed and stepped into the familiar shop, stomping their feet and blowing into their hands.

"About time you dropped by!" said Amaya, slapping Graham on the back in greeting. He coughed, trying to regain the air she'd knocked out of him.

"Good to see you," he said breathlessly. "And sorry about that. I've been a little busy organizing the festival."

Amaya nodded to Vee. "Or writing copious amounts of letters to your girlfriend here," she said.

Graham's coughing fit started again. "Ah, no, she's not my…I don't think the two of you have met!" He shot Amaya a sideways glare. "Amaya Blackstone, may I introduce Princess Valanice of Eastern Kolyma."

Vee smiled and offered her hand. "Call me Vee," she said, matching Amaya's firm grip. "I've heard so much about you."

"Glad to meet you. Graham's told me _great_ things about you, too," said Amaya, giving Graham a very obvious wink. He grimaced. Maybe introducing the two wasn't such a good idea. Before he could stop Amaya from saying anything sensitive, Graham felt someone scoop him up bridal-style from behind.

"Hello there, my little friend!" It was Whisper, decked out from head to toe in his signature mirror-like armor. He squeezed Graham tightly, who yelped in surprise. "Whisper and Amaya have been wondering when you were going to stop by!"

From his place in Whisper's arms, Graham could see Vee and Amaya stifling their laughter. He wriggled desperately to get free.

"Whisper, please put me down," he ordered in what he thought was a kingly voice but turned out to be more of a quiet plead.

Whisper only hugged him tighter. "You know, Whisper and Amaya were thinking about a double-date with you and your lady for Badger Day."

"We most certainly were _not_ thinking about that," Amaya corrected. "Don't pressure the poor kid, Whisper. Look how red he is."

Graham groaned. This was probably the hundredth time today he'd been so obviously flustered.

"Very well, my love," said Whisper. "Whisper and Graham will leave the ladies alone to talk about...whatever it is you ladies talk about." With that, Whisper bowed and whisked Graham away out the back door, setting him down in the yard.

Graham dusted himself off and ignored the sound of the ladies' laughter echoing from inside. "Well, that could have gone better."

"Whisper thinks that went swimmingly!"

"Of course he does," Graham grunted. "Now they're in there talking about what a fool I've been all day."

"Don't worry yourself, Graham. Amaya has told Whisper countless times that men are rarely the topic of ladies' conversations."

There was another chorus of laughter, and Graham hid his face in his hands. Okay, he _knew_ they must have been talking about him that time. "I'm a wreck, Whisper. Vee's here early and I don't know how to play it cool until Friday. Everyone in the castle is already talking and I'm afraid they'll scare her off before the festival even happens."

Whisper chuckled heartily and whipped his magnificent mane in the winter air. "Dear friend, from what I know about women—which is _plenty_ —is that they can't resist a good gun show." He flexed his muscles to emphasize his point, armor clanking noisily. "This is how Whisper captured Amaya's heart, after all."

Graham frowned. "Didn't think Amaya was the type who'd fall for something as simple as that."

"My woman has simple tastes." Whisper stopped, rethinking his answer. "I mean, Whisper's woman has _magnificent_ tastes! This is why Whisper is taking her away on a magnificent trip to the grandest location in all of Daventry!"

"Sounds romantic. Where are you taking her?"

Whisper paused for dramatic effect. "Whisper's house," he said.

Though he rarely liked to get his romantic advice from Whisper, Graham couldn't help but wonder if the way to tell Vee about his feelings was to arrange a special date of sorts, away from the prying ears of the castle guards and eyes of embarrassing neighbors. It was something productive to think about while he kept his feelings on the down-low.

When it was time for Graham and Vee to take their leave, Graham pulled Amaya aside to talk to her behind the cover of the door.

"What did Vee say?" he hissed, checking to see if anyone was eavesdropping. Whisper and Vee were engaged in conversation a few feet away. Whisper flexed, to which she gave a polite clap.

Amaya yanked her elbow out Graham's grip. "Geez, Graham, obsessive much?"

"You don't understand. I literally have _no_ idea what she's thinking. Ever. The guards were gossiping about us today and I don't know if she heard or not."

"Have you asked her?"

Graham hesitated. "I…no."

"Men are dopes."

Graham shushed her, so as not to draw the attention of the other two. "Sure, okay, I'll ask her later. But what did Vee say? Anything about me? About the kingdom? Does she hate it?"

Amaya rolled her eyes, but seemed to pity him enough to go along with it. "If you're wondering if she has my stamp of approval, she does. The girl's got a sense of humor and a good head on her shoulders, which is more than I can say for you sometimes."

"But does she _like_ me?" he whined, hands clutching his face in distress.

Amaya blinked slowly. "Graham," she said, one calloused hand resting on his shoulder. "I don't think she'd be here at all if she didn't like you a little bit."

He groaned. "But she hasn't _said_ anything."

"Look son," said Amaya, dropping her voice. "Vee rubs me as the kind of girl who appreciates actions over words. She's clever that way, and okay with taking her time. I don't think she'd show up five days ahead of schedule just to mess with you."

Graham exhaled the breath he'd been holding. "So…I should…?"

"Take your time. Don't worry about what other people think. In fact, don't think at all."

That was easy for her to say.

"I mean, not that Whisper and I took our time. Like, have you _seen_ that lug without his armor? First time I got a glimpse of those muscles, _hoo,_ I just wanted to bend him over and—"

Graham slapped his hands over his ears and started muttering a frantic stream of "LALALALALA" to block out whatever nasty things Amaya was describing to rattle him. Picturing his mentor and Whisper copulating was the very _last_ thing he wanted a picture of.

"ALLRIGHTIGETIT," he shouted, beckoning Vee to the door to make their escape. "WE ARE LEAVING NOW, HAVE FUN ON YOUR TRIP."

The visit was productive despite the weirdness, and gave Graham plenty of ideas about the next steps to take with Vee. He'd take his time to the best of his ability, but maybe a real date was in order—a date far away from the castle.

* * *

If actions over words was the way to go, then the only solution was to plan a grand gesture that perfectly demonstrated how Graham felt about the princess. She'd get it, and the less he had to talk, the better.

When Vee was occupied elsewhere—probably exploring the library, Graham thought—he slipped away to do his research. What would be a good place for a day trip? He wasn't too keen on a cabin-in-the-woods type of trip like the one Whisper was planning, and just the thought of Whisper's _boudoirs_ made him shudder. Instead, he considered a day at the beach (a ride too far to complete in a day), a trip up the mountain (far too cold to have an enjoyable time), or an ice skating date on the garden pond (considering he could learn to skate in twenty-four hours).

There was a reason Graham hated being the one in charge of planning things.

Nose buried in his list, Graham made his way to his study. There was a group of guards huddled in the hallway, and he didn't even notice until he had run right into someone's breastplate.

"Ow!" exclaimed Graham, stumbling back. "Oh, sorry, Kyle. I've smudged your armor."

The circle fell suddenly quiet at the king's arrival, and Kyle looked especially jumpy as he said, "Quite all right, King Graham! We weren't talking about you, if that's what you were thinking!"

Graham rubbed his throbbing nose and squinted around the circle of uncharacteristically quiet guards. "I wasn't thinking that at all," he said.

"Good!" Larry cut in. "Because we weren't!"

Graham deliberately crossed his arms and considered each guard's guilty posture. "Who were you talking about, then?"

The guards exchanged looks, and someone nudged Kyle in the gut.

"We were just talking about someone named…King _Hraham,"_ he started, wincing, "from…uh… _Baventry."_

The guards all face-palmed. "Nice going," hissed Larry.

Graham blustered angrily. "Yes. Nice indeed!" he said, and stormed past the sheepish-looking guards, cape swishing behind him. Not only was the gossip still spreading like wildfire, but he was certain he could have come up with a much better comeback had he stayed a moment longer. By the time he made it to his study, Graham was in such a state of annoyance the he blew right into Vee. She screamed in surprise, and so did he.

"Vee!" he gasped. "What are you doing here?"

She fumbled with something and slipped her hands hastily behind her back. "Oh, Graham! I was just…looking for the bathroom."

He didn't think he'd ever seen Vee look this nervous before. She rarely smiled this wide. He squinted in suspicion, but the moment quickly passed to make room for his wrath for the guards. "Have you heard what everyone's been talking about today?" he asked hesitantly.

Vee cleared her throat. "You mean the guards blathering in the hall?" she asked. "They're not very discreet, are they?"

Graham sighed and moved past her to sink into his desk chair. "I was hoping you'd missed all the talk about…us being alone together," he said.

Vee leaned against his messy desk and ran one of his feather quills between her fingers. "What exactly are they saying?" she asked. "I tend to tune out castle chatter."

Graham swallowed. The less he drew this out, the better. "Ah…they're saying they saw me in your room this morning."

"They probably did," she said. "Because you _were_ in my room this morning."

"B-but not like _that,"_ he stammered. "Which is…what they're saying."

Vee chuckled. "That would make you a scoundrel, wouldn't it?"

He covered his face in his hands. "I don't like anyone spreading rumors that might make _you_ look bad. Or me. Or anyone."

She twirled the quill thoughtfully between her delicate fingers. "I grew up under scrutiny, Graham. Everyone's always talking about the royal family behind closed doors. I once had a maid tell the other servants that a bruise I got from archery practice was given to me by…a man."

Graham twitched. "Who gave you a hickey?" he demanded.

"No, Graham," she said, "that was the rumor, not the…anyway, the point is, when you're a person of interest, you're in the spotlight and people are going to talk about you, whether what they say is true or not."

Graham considered it. He hadn't grown up a royal like Vee had. He'd gone from farm boy to knight to king in the span of a decade. All this castle talk and politics were new to him.

"We know what actually transpired this morning," Vee continued. "Two friends had tea together and that was all. Honestly, I don't care what anyone else should say about it. Should you?"

He knew Vee was right, but Graham still deflated a little bit at hearing that flaccid word "friends" again. He shoved this twinge of disappointment deep down inside and instead told her, "No, I suppose not."

Vee smiled in satisfaction and reached over to brush his nose playfully with the feather. Graham's heart skipped. "In all honesty," he began, unable to stop himself, "yours is the only one worth caring about."

Vee stared at him, expression caught in the space between perplexed and pleased. "My what?" she asked.

"Your good opinion," he said, swallowing. Vee was dangerously close now, leaning over the desk as if to hear him better. He sat stunned in his chair, hands gripping the arms so tightly he lost feeling in his fingertips. My, had her cheeks always been this pink? He could feel the faint exhale of her breath as she closed the space between them…

"Ah!" Graham leaned forward a bit too far in his chair and stumbled, only just catching himself before he faceplanted on the floor. He stood up quickly, visibly reddening amidst Vee's stifled giggles. "Right!" he said brusquely, "I'm starving. Are you starving?"

He felt like a fool. The two had kissed before, so what was wrong?

A lot of things, he thought sullenly. For one, their first kiss had been sort of an accident thanks to a tug-of-war gone awry. Secondly, they had never even discussed the kiss since it happened when they were still prisoners in Hagatha's tower and there were more important things to discuss back then...like how to get out of Hagatha's tower. With all this "friend" talk lately, Graham was starting to lose his confidence.

Perhaps he'd get another chance, or perhaps she would shut him down. Either way Amaya's voice still rung in his head. "Actions over words," it reminded, and he repeated it to himself for the rest of the evening.

* * *

It was Vee's idea to have dinner in her quarters. Graham protested at first, not keen to push his luck with the gossipers, but Vee made some compelling arguments.

"This way, we can sit at a distance where we could actually talk," she had said. "And there'll be no guards to speak of."

Graham liked the idea of sitting near Vee unchaperoned, so he readily agreed. He made the arrangements with the chef, who brought up a special tray of mutton nuggets, a bowl of fruit, and a chocolate cake for dessert. Graham told Vee that he'd chosen the menu since they were "already having an unorthodox dinner", and he was surprised to find that Vee ate her fill and did not once criticize Graham's choice of a meal.

After dinner, she challenged him to a Battle of Wits and while they played, they kept her door open, so that any passing guards could see _exactly_ what they were doing. It was incredibly satisfying to see the guards march by and slump in disappointment.

By midnight, Vee had won a total of four games and Graham had won three. Through sparkling conversation and exchange of stories, he also learned about Vee's home life and some choice tales of her school years. His personal favorite involved her and Neese sneaking away from their own Coming Out Ball and crashing a nearby campus lake party instead. The night had ended with the girls falling into the water and returning to the ball sopping wet.

"We'd hidden some of the boys' clothes before leaving, though," Vee recalled fondly. "So the night wasn't a total waste."

When Graham began to yawn, Vee decided that it was time to call it a night and she personally walked him to the door. It was so late that the guards seemed to have given up spying, leaving the hallway completely empty.

"Well, thank you for inviting me tonight. You have a lovely home," Graham teased.

"Just redecorated," she said without missing a beat. "I'm glad you appreciate all the hard work I've personally put into it."

They stood there for a few long seconds, Graham's shoulder pressed against the doorway so he could look straight down into her tired face. He lingered here for a minute, not wanting to overstay his welcome but not wanting to leave. Her eyes were a wistful shade of grey and sparkled in a way that made him want to fall headfirst into them. Without thinking, Graham leaned down and pressed his lips against her warm cheek. He remained there a bit longer than perhaps he should have before pulling away.

Well. That wasn't quite keeping things subtle.

"Um." His nerve had vanished along with the kiss. "Goodnight, then," he said, strained, before making a quick exit down the hall.

Graham had been too preoccupied to notice Vee's reaction to the kiss, but it was too late to turn back now. He could only hope that his bravado would carry him into tomorrow, where he would ask her on that real date once and for all…if the kiss hadn't already ruined things.


	4. Guilty Party

**Guilty Party**

Wednesday was a new day brimming with new possibilities and Graham woke early to seize them. He gathered all the travel books from his library and plopped them down on his desk, ready to find the perfect date location to take Vee. Cup of tea in hand, he flipped through _A Village Idiot's Guide to the North_ and _Here and There Again_ by Bilbert Babbins. Graham was just bookmarking a section about gingerbread house-making classes nearby when a dull roar rumbled up from the floorboards. It sounded like a herd of baby dragons were thundering up the stairs and heading right for the study.

"GRAAAAAHAM!" came a booming voice that shook the room. Before Graham could blink, the door banged open and none other than Whisper charged inside.

Graham quickly moved his cup of tea to avoid spillage. "Woah, there!" he said, as if to calm a raging stallion. Whisper paced furiously, stomping so the books toppled off the shelves. Graham didn't think that now was the time to warn him that most of the castle was still sleeping.

"Whisper is in great _distress!"_ he wailed. "Whisper and Amaya were scheduled to leave for Whisper's house five minutes ago!"

Graham stood up to offer Whisper his chair and Whisper sank heavily into it, head flopping to rest in his hands. "Come on, buddy," Graham said, handing the knight his cup of tea. "Deep breaths."

Whisper's armor shuddered as he inhaled for six seconds and exhaled for eight. He dumped Graham's tea right into the mouth slats of his helmet and swallowed loudly.

"Now," said Graham, "What happened?"

Whisper sniffled. "Amaya is _missing!"_

Graham took a moment to let this sink in. "Missing?" he repeated. "What do you mean she's missing?"

"Amaya and the Crumbler left for a job at dawn and never returned!"

Graham glanced at the Graham-father clock in the corner. "Whisper," he said, his panic fizzling into relief, "these jobs take a long time."

"But she _said_ she would be back by eight! It is now _ten_ minutes after. I do not think I've ever been this worried about anything in my life."

Graham patted him on the back. "I'm sure she's just running a little late. Why don't you go on home, make yourself some hot cocoa, and she'll be back before you know it." Graham stood to escort him out, eager to have the study to himself again. He had a whole day to plan and only a few hours to do it, and the sooner Whisper was out of his hair, the better.

Whisper sighed and stood up, joints creaking. "What if something horrible has happened? Should I go out looking? I am the very best finder in Daventry, after all. Probably."

"Trust me," insisted Graham, already ushering him out the door. "Amaya tends to get a little bothered when people rush her in the middle of a project. One time she kicked me right out of my own room when I asked her how much time the bedframe would take."

Whisper sighed dreamily. "That does sound like my special little rabbit."

"Give her a little more than ten minutes and you two will be on your way in no time."

"Well…" Whisper trudged through the doorway, wringing his hands. "I suppose you have known her longer than I."

Graham waved. "Have fun on your trip!" he called and quickly shut the door. Alone again. "Now, let's see about this gingerbread class," he muttered, settling back at his desk and getting to work.

* * *

It took Graham a good twenty minutes to summon the courage to ask Vee out on a real date. He gave her a tour of the stables that morning, hovering a few inches away, and silently panicked as she offered bits of jerky to the happy mounts.

 _You can do this,_ he told himself, licking his dry lips. _You've done things together before, this will be just like strolling in the gardens. The biggest difference is that this time, you're laying your heart completely bare and vulnerable for her to either accept or crush into tiny little pieces._

 _Easy peasy._

"Vee?"

"Mm?" she hummed, letting the giant wombat lick her hand clean.

He cleared his throat to ensure it didn't crack with nerves. "How are you liking Daventry so far?"

"Very well," she said, wiping her hands on her skirts. She was wearing a deep purple gown today and a thick brown cloak. She looked practical and beautiful, and perfect for the activities he'd planned for the day.

"Good," said Graham, leaning over to pat Miss Maple on the forehead. "Because I wondered if you'd care to see a little more of it today."

Vee glanced his way, eyes sparkling with mischief. "Oh?" she asked.

" _Tour de Daventry_ is leaving in a few minutes," he said. "I thought since you'd seen the town and the castle already, I could show you around the outskirts." He led Vee a few stalls down where two mounts were already saddled up and biting at their bits, ready to go. "The woods are lovely this time of year."

He was relieved that Vee was already nodding. "Brilliant!" she said, reaching into the stall to pat the steed. "I've been wanting to get out of the castle for a bit." She stopped and quickly added, "Not that the castle is unsatisfactory."

"The crown is offended," Graham said stuffily, "but will overlook your treachery if you promise to enjoy today's excursion."

She shook his outstretched hand. "The guilty party accepts your ridiculous proposal."

After the deal was struck, Vee poked her head further through the stall, leaning so far over that her feet lifted a little off the ground. "Is that food I see?" she asked, squinting at the saddle bags.

Graham quickly reached out to pull her back. "No," he lied. "That's just…usual riding stuff."

Vee wriggled to bend further over the stall door while Graham tugged harder to keep her from seeing too much.

"A basket, a blanket, cheese, and is that a bottle of wine?"

He pulled her harder. Zards, she was strong. Graham adjusted his hands so he was gripping her around the waist.

Vee laughed. "You're planning a picnic, aren't you?"

"You weren't supposed to know that yet!" Graham grunted. He tried to yank her back, but Vee had latched her hands stubbornly around a wooden beam. She just had to be the winner, even if the contest was as silly as this.

"You are—" Graham heaved, "—one stubborn princess!"

Vee latched herself tighter to her anchor. "I think it's sweet that— _ow_ —that King Graham has a romantic afternoon all planned out for—"

"Who said anything about romance?" snapped Graham. Unable to loosen her grip with tugging alone, Graham resorted to the lowest form of torture and squeezed her sides.

Vee yelped and slipped, and the force of Graham's pulling sent them both crashing backwards onto the barn floor. He took the brunt of the fall, sort of a cushion for Vee to land on, and he let out an enormous _"Oof!"_ as the wind was knocked right out of him.

Vee scrambled off his chest. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Graham!" she said. "Can you breathe?"

He struggled for a minute, the blow to his abdomen forbidding him to inhale. Then, air rushed inside like cold water flooding his lungs and he drank it in like a parched man. As his vision came back into focus, he saw Vee's face hovering over him, so close that the ends of her hair tickled his cheeks. He had only just started enjoying the view when a coughing fit took over and wracked his body. He felt Vee place her small hands on his hip and shoulder, and she forced him onto his side where it was a bit easier to breathe. After a minute, he dizzily propped himself up on one elbow.

"Are you all right?" Vee asked, brow furrowed in concern. She reached out for him, but seemed to think better of it and withdrew her hand.

"I'm fine," he breathed, noting how she knelt over him so for once, he had to look up instead of down to see into her face. It was risky to be this physically close to Vee—she intoxicated him to dangerously high degrees. He remembered kissing her cheek the night before, and wondered if he could close the gap between them now, only this time he could aim for those rose-colored lips…

And then Vee started to laugh, slapping her hand over her pretty mouth and hiding it from view. He pursed his lips in disappointment and asked, "What's so funny?"

She waved her hand as if to shoo the question. "That was—" her fit of giggles returned, "—I'm sorry, you just look _so—"_ She pointed and continued to laugh.

Graham brushed the top of his head where she indicated, and felt his hair sticking up on all sides. "You really find this amusing, your highness?" he asked, groping around the floor for his cap and shoving it back on his head. Vee nodded, clutching her sides, and Graham laughed along simply because Vee's merriment was so contagious. When she had calmed down enough to look him over, she combed her fingers through the ends of his brown curls. He leaned slightly into her touch.

"Straw," she noted, holding it up for him to see. "You're covered."

"So are you," he replied. Graham offered her a hand to lift them both to their feet. He picked at the pieces of gold straw tangled in Vee's dark hair, and she swiped her palms across his shoulders and torso to brush him off. He tried not to betray the thrill he felt when her hands met his body.

"Right," he said brusquely, adjusting his adventurer's cap for effect, "I think it's clear that I won that tug-of-war."

Vee scoffed. "Only because you used an illegal move. I demand a rematch."

Graham made a show of opening the stalls to retrieve the royal steeds. He handed her the reins and graced her with the smuggest look he could muster. "Patience, princess," he told her. "Perhaps you'll get your chance at retribution."

She grabbed the reins from him, and in one smooth motion, swung herself up onto her mount—a large doglike steed—and trotted right out of the barn. "Perhaps I will," she called back. "And I _am_ patient."

Graham shuddered. There was something about this challenge that sparked something akin to desire inside of him. He quickly mounted his own steed and hurried to catch up. He had just rounded the corner of the barn when something big and shiny darted right in the path. Graham's capybara reared in fright, tossing its head so it just narrowly missed bumping Graham in the nose.

"Whisper?!" Graham exclaimed, yanking the reins back. Whisper blocked the entire path with his massive, gleaming, armored body. "What are you doing here? I thought you and Amaya would be heading out by now."

Whisper hurried over, hands grasping at Graham's cape to pull him unceremoniously to the ground. "You said Amaya would be back by now!" Whisper whispered, and Graham would argue that Whisper's whisper was even louder than his regular voice. "Amaya is _not_ back yet! You said to wait until noon and…" he glanced directly at the sun, "… _it is very noon."_

Graham wriggled out of Whisper's grip, wondering how far Vee had ridden ahead. "It's only been a few hours, Whisper," he said distractedly, straightening his clothes. "I'm sure she's just tied up at the moment."

Whisper let out a distraught gasp. _"TIED UP?!"_

"Not literally," Graham muttered. He couldn't see Vee anywhere on the path. Had she turned to head into the forest? "Vee and I are heading out right now, so if you wouldn't mind…"

"But-but-but _Graham!"_ Whisper's voice was trembling an octave Graham didn't know existed. "You asked Whisper to wait even though waiting it literally the most difficult thing in the world for Whisper!"

Graham scrambled back into his saddle. "I know you're worried, but I've really got to get going."

"I need your help launching a full-fledged investigation for my Amaya! I need you to call the Royal Guard, pool all your kingly resources! Who knows what may have happened?"

"Graham!" came Vee's voice from somewhere ahead. "Are you coming or what?"

"Ah—be right there!" Graham hastily called back. "Whisper, I'll only be gone for an hour or two, and I promise to lend a hand as soon as I get back, all right? In the meantime, why don't you go look?"

Whisper clutched Graham's reins with fervor. _"But—!"_

"I'm leaving without you, your highness!" shouted Vee.

Graham's nerves snapped. "Look, Whisper, Amaya has always been able to take care of herself, and she's worked this late before. If she's not back by the time I return, then I'll send out the Royal Guard. Okay?" With that, he yanked the reins back and rode off down the left path to catch up with Vee.

* * *

Graham couldn't help but feel a little bit guilty as he bobbed down the sloping path, leading the way through the snow-covered forest. He hadn't meant to sound as unkind to Whisper as he had, but the pressure of today left little room for sympathy. It simply didn't make sense to drop everything on a fruitless search because Whisper was feeling more overprotective of his girlfriend than usual.

Yes, it was a little odd for Amaya to be this late coming home, and despite what Graham had said before, she actually was a punctual person. But Graham had a plan in motion, and if he bailed on his date now, the momentum he had spent days building would be lost. He was a king, after all, and sometimes kings had to make the tough decisions. He comforted himself with the thought that Amaya was tough enough to take care of her own affairs, and either way, he would be back in…two hours tops.

"You still back there?" called Vee from up ahead. She turned around in the saddle to flash him a sassy grin. "Do I need to slow down?"

"No need!" Graham urged his mount, Banana, into a trot and quickly caught up with Vee and Pumpkin (noting that he had been very hungry on the day he'd christened the royal steeds). The woods grew denser the deeper they ventured; streaks of sunlight trickling through the tops of the branches like fingers poking through. They rode in relative silence, enjoying the sound of their mounts' paws crunching in the snow, the occasional deer watching them from a distance, and the distinct echoing noise of a raven flapping its wings. Their breaths rose like smoke and disappeared before they reached the treetops.

When the trees thinned and the snowy path widened, Graham came to ride alongside Vee. "Do I have your approval, highness?" he asked, leaning over his saddle.

Vee gave the woods a sweeping glance. She seemed to be thinking of something cheeky to say, but the way her eyes softened as she gazed at the landscape betrayed a hint of quiet awe. The snow glistened in the faint sunlight as if coated in specs of gold. "It's lovely," she managed to say after a moment.

"Not as lovely as you."

Vee scoffed. "You were waiting to use that one, weren't you?" she asked, pointedly looking away. Graham thought he saw a slight blush in her cheeks, but it could just as easily have been the cold.

They spent the afternoon circling the outskirts of the kingdom, following the river for a ways up the mountain until they reached a clearing where they could look down on Castle Daventry. This was the perfect spot for their picnic, and Graham set to work unfurling the blanket on the driest spot of ground. Vee lent a hand unpacking the food and together, they ate and drank curled up under the thick fur he'd brought. Graham could have patted himself on the back for arranging something so sickeningly romantic, and waited for the moments where Vee would snuggle just an inch closer to him. Her warmth enveloped him under the fur, and paired with the wine it made him delightfully drowsy.

"What did the grape say when it was crushed?" Graham asked, spurred by the drink and Vee's intoxicating aura.

She wrinkled her nose. "Nothing," she said. "It just let out a little _wine."_

"All right, that was an easy one." Graham finished his last few drops. "Though I've got to say, I do love how the cold air gives you _rosé_ cheeks."

Vee groaned. "You're giving me _grape depression."_

Graham snorted into his glass. She was…perfect.

When they had eaten their fill, Graham felt something tickling his nose and looked up just in time to see white flakes drifting softly to the ground. It was as if the universe had anticipated his needs and provided the perfect moment to break out the romantics. Graham let out a huge yawn, stretching his arms over his head, and aimed to casually rest his arm around Vee' shoulder when…

"I challenge you to a race," she said.

Graham recoiled his hand. "Uh, pardon?"

Vee looked directly at him, fire in her eyes. "Retribution," she said.

 _For the tug-of-war,_ Graham thought grimly. He thought she would have forgotten all about the bet they'd made back in the barn, but he should have known better than to underestimate her capacity for revenge. Though he felt disappointed that she'd interrupted him before he'd made a move, the relief was overwhelming. And how could he deny his fire-eyed princess for a chance to beat him at something?

Graham made a show of crossing his arms. "All right, princess," he said measuredly. "What are the terms of your race?"

Vee made her way back to Pumpkin, tightening her leather gloves for good measure. "Whoever reaches the castle first, wins," she said, swinging herself back into the saddle.

Graham swept the picnic things back into the basket and attached it to his saddle before swinging himself up. "Wins what?" he asked, tightening the girth.

"If I win, I get your kingdom."

Graham paused. She had to be joking, but even so, he didn't wish to cross her. "You should know that I can navigate these woods with my eyes closed."

Vee's eyes sparkled. "Then you shouldn't have a problem, should you?"

Graham puffed out his chest. If the princess wanted a race, she was going to have the race of her life. "What if I'm the victor?" he asked. "And I'll ask that you don't offer me your kingdom as a reward. When I inevitably win, your only home will be out in the snow, and I'd rather not have that."

Vee thought for a minute as Pumpkin sidestepped in anticipation. "How about," said Vee, "a kiss?"

Graham's heart _ba-dumped._ "A…a what?"

"Do we have an accord?"

Graham stared at Vee's outstretched hand, his mind racing with memories of their first kiss and possibilities of how different this one could be. Vee's challenge either meant that she was completely convinced she'd win, or that she hoped Graham would claim his prize. He took her hand and shook it without breaking eye contact. For the second deal of the day, this certainly would be a rewarding one.

Unfortunately, Graham was so lost in the fantasy of winning that he didn't anticipate Vee's sudden departure. As soon as the handshake had broken, Vee's mount exploded forward and her brazen laugh carried back to where Graham sill sat dumbly on Banana. With a yell, he kicked his mount and together they tore after the princess.

* * *

Both parties rode hard through the woods, kicking up the snow that once lay peacefully on the path. Though Graham couldn't see whether Vee was behind or in front, he could distinctly hear her laugh echoing through the trees. They passed the frozen waterfalls and disturbed the winter calm with their pounding steps and shouts of euphoria. At one point, Graham caught a flash of Vee's cloak whipping ahead, and quickly turned his steed down the opposite path: a shortcut around the cliffside. He had purposefully not shown Vee this route for the fear of her safety, but Graham had traversed this road plenty of times to navigate it without falling to his demise. From up on the crag, he could see the turrets of Castle Daventry with ease.

 _That kiss is as good as mine._

Graham was halfway down the hill when he heard a rustling in the branches above him. He looked up, which ended up being a huge mistake. Something—or some _one_ —large crashed out of the trees and landed right on top of Graham, who screamed, and this sent Banana stampeding faster down the steep mountainside. Graham felt two metal arms squeezing the breath out of him, and so he yanked hard on the reins on impulse. The momentum sent both passengers flying out of the saddle and tumbling down the rest of the hill.

When Graham reached the bottom, he coughed out a mouthful of snow and dirt and stood up to regain his sense of balance. The world around him spun dangerously, but a huge metal knight soon came sharply into focus.

 _"_ _Whisper!"_ Graham couldn't control the exasperation in his voice as he stomped over to calm his rearing Banana down. A pang of guilt ran through him as he suddenly realized that the sun was a lot lower in the sky than he'd expected. He'd promised that he would be back in two hours, and it was clear that he'd been gone much longer than that.

Whisper was scrambling to his feet, clutching something close to his chest. For being his third appearance today, he looked worse for wear; his armor was scuffed and his cape was torn, even his helmet lay askew. "Graham, _please,"_ he begged, holding out the twisted wooden thing in his trembling hands, "I've been scouring the edge of the woods all day in search for Amaya, and…"

"What is it?" Graham squinted at the thing, trying to place where he'd seen it before. One end was sanded smooth like a handle, and the other was splintered as though it had been ripped off whatever it had been attached to. There was only one person in town who could make something this well-crafted. Graham gulped. "It's from…the Crumbler."

Whisper let out a loud wail and fell at Graham's feet, grabbing the end of his cloak to blow his nose on. "It is the handle of my love's _brakes!"_ Whisper cried. "I found it and thought, 'What if the Crumbler spun out of control?' I knew it was too icy to be driving that monster through the woods!" He began to sob into Graham's cape, and Graham no longer had the heart to pull it away. Amaya had no way of stopping her rampaging machine and could have been anywhere; stuck, hurt, or worse.

And it was all Graham's fault.

Before he could express how sorry he was, how horrible he felt, and how he was going to fix this, Vee and her mount rounded the corner of the clearing. She had that flush in her cheeks brought on by the hard ride, but at the sight of her, Graham's heart sank.

"Well, there you are!" Vee said breathlessly, dismounting. "You should know, I've won the race and the kingdom by extension, so you…" She glanced over, face falling as she laid eyes on a very distressed Whisper. "Whisper, what's—?"

Blubbering, he told her the story of Amaya's disappearance, ending with the brake lever clutched in Graham's hands. Vee knelt beside him in the snow while Graham remained glued to his spot a few feet away, unable to move or breathe.

"I know you both were busy today," Whisper sniffed, "But I…when I found this I…I couldn't…" The knight couldn't even finish his thought before another round of sobs took over.

Vee patted him gently on the back. "Oh, Whisper, we would have helped you look had we known Amaya was gone. Right Graham?"

Graham bit his lip so hard he tasted blood. Vee looked from him and back to Whisper a few times, eyebrows furrowing.

"You knew?" she asked quietly.

Graham couldn't bring himself to meet her gaze; the shame was too great. "I…I was going to help once we'd returned," he admitted, but the words sounded even lamer coming out of his mouth. "I-I lost track of time and I..."

"When did you notice she was missing, Whisper?" asked Vee, a slight edge to her voice.

"Th-this morning."

Vee set her sights on Graham. "Whatever trail Amaya's left, it'll be getting cold."

Whisper sniffed loudly. "She's _dead!_ Whisper knows it!"

"No!" said Graham, swallowing his rising panic. He knelt beside Whisper, hand gripping his shoulder, and said, "You listen to me: I'm dropping everything right now and I will personally go out and find her, I'll dispatch the Royal Guard, whatever it takes." Graham pressed through his crippling guilt and continued, "This is my fault, but I'll find her. I promise."

Whisper nodded, helmet clinking, and for once, he said nothing.

"I'm coming, too," said Vee, helping the knight to his feet.

Graham wanted to tell her no; that he'd never forgive himself if she got hurt, too. But Vee was staring at him with steely determination, daring him to deny her.

"Very well," said Graham heavily. "I'll have some supplies prepared, and we'll leave at once."

Graham wasn't sure how they ended up back at the castle. He was hardly aware of calling his best guards to arrange the search party. All he knew was that by sunset, he, a forlorn knight, the princess, and a small army of guards were all trudging through the snow laden with packs and light supplies. Whisper led the party right to the spot where he'd found Amaya's brakes, and they could just make out some Crumbler tracks leading into the woods. They would have to move fast, since the snow was falling at an alarming rate and soon the trail would be gone.

No words passed between anyone as darkness began to fall, but the accusations bouncing around in Graham's mind were loud enough to urge him onward. He couldn't help thinking that this wasn't the first time his thoughtlessness had led to the death of a friend.

 _No. Amaya's not dead,_ Graham told himself firmly. _You'll find her and you'll save her. You've got to._


	5. Out of the Woods

**Out of the Woods**

There was something about winter nights that made the world much quieter, and eerily so. The western wood slept under a blanket of snow, which fell slowly between the naked branches stretching above like claws. Graham led the party steadily through the brush, lantern held aloft to light the way. The night had begun with a company of some of Daventry's best knights, all trekking through the thick brush as they combed every inch of the wood. The close-knit trees and rocky terrain made it impossible to bring mounts on the search, forcing the group to trudge through the snow on foot. As the hours dragged by with no sign of Amaya's trail, Graham gave the order to spread out and cover more ground. He, Whisper, and Vee stuck close together and watched as the multitude of lanterns shrank into all corners of the night. The drumming sound of knights marching in sync soon faded into the darkness.

No matter the weather conditions and loss of company, Graham's shame was enough of a motivator to keep him going. He tried not to imagine how Amaya was keeping warm this freezing night, wherever she was. Regardless, the thoughts persisted, none of them pleasant and all of them setting his stomach churning. Instead, he pressed these feelings down and focused his attention on putting one foot in front of the other.

A while later, the snow stopped, but the grey clouds remained to obstruct the moon. Without it, Graham had to rely on his instincts to tell him that that it must have been well after midnight by now. There had been no word or signal from the rest of the Royal Guard, so the three had no choice but to keep moving.

"Press on!" shouted Whisper, stumbling over a log and falling face-first into the snow. Vee hurried over to lift him to his feet. "Whisper is fine, Princess!" he slurred thickly, trying to brush her off, but the moment she let go, Whisper's knees buckled again. "We must be getting close by now!"

"The trail disappeared a while ago," said Graham, shining his lantern in all directions. "The snow must have covered it."

Whisper slipped from Vee's grip and slumped onto the ground. "Amaya?" he whimpered, digging his shaking hands through the snow as if Amaya was buried there. "My love? Where are your tracks? Why have you hidden them from your burly knight?!"

Vee looked at a loss of what to do. She wiped her eyes tiredly and said, "Whisper, if you keep doing that, you'll disrupt the trail."

"There is no trail," Whisper replied hoarsely. He was obviously exhausted, having been running on a higher level of anxiety than should have been legal all day.

Sighing, Graham came over and helped Whisper to his feet. "You need to rest," he said. "Warm up and take a nap."

Whisper shook his head hard. "Amaya could be freezing somewhere! I cannot give up!" At this, his head bobbed as sleep threatened to overtake him.

Too drained to argue, Graham gently led Whisper to sit under a tree where the snow had not reached. Graham fished the thickest blanket from his pack and wrapped it around Whisper's shoulders. "Try to get some sleep, and I'll see what I can do about finding these tracks again," Graham told him. "I promise I'll wake you if I find something."

Whisper hesitated, but it was clear he had no energy to spare and he promptly collapsed onto the dry grass. Graham made sure he was asleep before backing away slowly, and after a moment, he heard another set of feet behind him.

"You should get some sleep, too, Valanice," said Graham over his shoulder.

Her footsteps paused. "And you shouldn't?" she asked.

He couldn't face her. Not now. "Someone's got to keep looking."

"We all need to rest. We'll be more alert."

Graham tightened his grip on the lantern, not wanting to let on how fatigued he felt. He didn't deserve a rest. He didn't deserve to fool around for one more moment, not while Amaya was still missing.

"Graham," Vee's voice was back, firm around his name. "Listen…"

"Stay with Whisper," he said, cutting her off. Graham moved deeper into the woods, relieved that she was no longer following, but nervous about being alone with his mind.

He walked until he could no longer see his companions and until he couldn't feel his feet from the cold. He wished a bird would squawk or that a bear would growl, he even would have welcomed Whisper's incessant chattering—anything to break the excruciating silence. The only sound to hear was the crunching of snow under his boots and his ragged breath in the wind. Graham's gaze stayed within the dim glow of his lamp, praying to catch sight of Crumbler tracks through his closed sphere of light.

You would have found tracks sooner had you not been off with Vee.

Graham shoved the thought away, but it only came back louder: You were willing to sacrifice the safety of your oldest friend for an afternoon with a girl who may not even feel the same way about you. Are you stupid?

"Shut up," he growled.

Is this just something you do? Are you actively trying to put your friends in danger? You always try o have your cake and eat it, too. It's pathetic. You're pathetic. And now both Whisper and Vee know you're pathetic.

Graham picked up the pace as if he could outrun his destructive thoughts. His feet pounded into the earth and matched the pace of his heart beating in his throat.

Remember Achaka? He believed in you, and look where **he** ended up.

Graham froze in his tracks, chest rising and falling fast and hard.

You just had to follow him down that well, didn't you? If you hadn't distracted him, if you hadn't been bumbling around like a fool, if you hadn't attracted that dragon, maybe Achaka wouldn't have been mauled to death like an animal. He sacrificed himself to get you out, even though **you're** the one who killed him. It was you.

And it's still you.

Graham didn't realize he'd been running until something hard suddenly collided with his foot and sent him crashing to the cold, hard ground. A pain he couldn't identify shot up from somewhere on his body, and he cringed. There was a muffled sound like glass breaking, and he looked up just in time to see the flame in his lantern flicker out and disappear in a wisp of smoke, plunging him into darkness.

He'd fallen so many times today, but this was the only time he wanted to stay there and let the elements claim him. Visions of a knight clad in purple and black flashed through his head, and words like stupid and idiot and murderer sank in like poisoned darts.

"Please," Graham whimpered, clutching where his ribs had met a buried rock. "Stop."

It was then that he happened to look up.

The longer he looked, the more he realized that the silvery light of the moon had broken through the veil of clouds. As his eyes adjusted, Graham could see at least thirty feet ahead. He began to crawl forward, squinting, and made out the outline of a bridge stretching across a small canyon. He got shakily to his feet and noticed the forest continuing on the other side. The trees grew just as thick over there, except for a distinct patch where it looked like a crew of lumberjacks had gone to town chopping down a whole section.

There was only one machine in Daventry that could rip out that many maples in one fell swoop.

Clutching his throbbing side, Graham hurried to retrace his steps back to camp.

* * *

The sky was a pale eggshell color by the time Graham dragged his companions to the canyon bridge. His injury was the main cause of delay, but Graham refused to mention it until Whisper had seen what he'd discovered across the chasm.

"There," Graham said, gesturing to the trail of chopped-down trees. "You think the Crumbler could have done that?"

Whisper, looking revigorated from his nap, stood on tiptoes to see over. "It looks like my love's doing!" he exclaimed.

"She must have lost control of it," said Graham, exhaling with relief. "She'd never clear out a forest without a direct order."

"I think she took the long way around," Vee said, watching as the rickety bridge swung precariously in the icy wind. It was made up of a few ropes and planks of wood, and didn't look like it could hold an ounce of weight, let alone a machine weighing more than a boulder. "I thought Daventry employed bridge trolls."

"Usually." Graham peered over the edge of the cliffside. He could just make out the snowy tops of pine trees miles down. They looked like black specks from all the way up here. "We're well away from any villages or towns, though."

Graham inhaled a little too deeply, and that now-familiar sharp stab returned with a vengeance. He grunted in pain, trying not to keel over his ribcage.

"Ah, are you sure you're all right, Graham?" Whisper asked, voice tinged with concern. "Would you like Whisper to take a look?"

But Graham waved his hand. "No, no, I'm fine," he insisted. "Just a bit bruised, that's all." He caught the heat of Vee's glare even from three feet away. "The sooner we get across, the better."

That seemed to be all the reassurance Whisper needed. He puffed out his chest boldly and proclaimed, "Well, what are we waiting for? The fastest way to Amaya is across this ancient, unstable bridge, so that is where we shall go! Onward!" And with that, Whisper bolted across, leaving snow dust flying in his wake. The bridge creaked and shifted treacherously, but Whisper's speed got him across in less than five seconds, even as they heard a loud crack as he narrowly avoided one of the broken steps. Vee and Graham watched him disappear over the other side and into the thick of the trees.

"I suppose that's one way to do it," Vee muttered.

The two paused before the mouth of the bridge, listening to the old boards squeak, ready to give. Amaya had to be on the other side, and this was the quickest way to get there. One hand braced against his side and the other clutching the rope, Graham stepped cautiously out onto the first wooden board. He glanced down a few times, which ended up being a poor lapse in judgement because it immediately made him lightheaded. The bridge jerked treacherously as Vee stepped on behind, and they both stopped to wait for the wind to die down.

"Maybe we should have run across, too," Graham remarked dryly.

"You can hardly walk," Vee said. "You're not running anywhere."

Graham craned his neck around. "I said I'm fine," he said, taking a careful step over a missing board and immediately wincing at the strain in his side.

"I'm not stupid." Vee came right up behind him. The bridge swayed. "You're hurt."

Graham walked faster, anything to get away. "What matters is finding Amaya, and that's it. I've done enough damage as it is, and don't want to hold us up."

They were halfway across when Vee grabbed his arm, forcing him to look back at her. "Graham, listen to me, I'm worried you're killing yourself over—"

A menacing groan of protest from the rotten wood cut her short. He saw the look of alarm flash on her face for exactly one instant before the board beneath her feet broke. The snap pierced the air like a cannon as she fell through.

"NO!" Graham snatched at the hand that had been resting on his arm a split second ago, but failed to account for the force of the fall breaking the boards under his feet and yanking them both down. The rope that had served as the railing came along too, and Graham gripped onto it for their lives, hand burning as the thick twine sliced through his skin. The momentum swung them in an ungraceful arc towards the cliffside, and swung back just before they collided.

Graham's body was screaming in protest. On one end, he gripped Vee's wrist as she dangled dangerously below. On the other end, Graham's hand was wrapped with broken bridge rope which threatened to snap at any moment and send them both to their deaths. Meanwhile, whatever had happened to his ribs before had worsened since the initial fall. Graham let out a yelp of anguish as pain shot through his side like a white-hot dagger.

"Hold on!" he managed to say, but it came out as more of a pained grunt. He looked down into Vee's sweet face, now ashen with terror. His fingers tightened around her wrist, and despite the physical agony he was in, Graham would die before he let her go.

They swung here in the bitter breeze for a few tense seconds, Graham's limbs trembling with strain. He knew he had to lift her up out of immediate danger somehow, but he simply couldn't move. The rope jerked suddenly as if gave once again, the lurch of freefall over as abruptly as it started. As he battled the searing pain throbbing from shoulder to hip, Graham took stock of the situation. He noticed how close they were hanging to the rocky cliffside. If they could just reach it, maybe he could find a foothold to support him while he caught his breath.

"Vee." It was becoming much harder to inhale. "Can…can you…s-swing?" he managed to say, hoping she'd get the gist of his idea.

Vee followed his gaze to the cliff and nodded earnestly. As he'd hoped, she began to shift weight from one side to the other, swaying her legs at just the right time to bring them closer and closer each time. Graham did his best to help, and swinging like an awkward chain, they were soon close enough to the cliff for Vee to reach out and grasp at a jutting root and yank them over. Graham shoved his foot into a cleft in the rock and sighed as some of the pressure released from his muscles. When he'd taken a few deep breaths, he pulled Vee up towards him. She used the cracks in the cliff as footholds until she was close enough to throw her arms around his neck.

"I've got you," he breathed, holding her tightly with his free arm. She pressed her cold face into the crook of his neck, trembling all over. He hugged her as close as he dared, afraid that if he loosened his grip for a moment, he'd lose her forever.

But they weren't out of the woods yet, as it were. Graham still had to scale the crag and get them safely to the top, all while his body screamed with every movement.

"Hold onto me," he told her. "And don't let go."

Vee did not argue as Graham adjusted himself to grab onto the rope with both hands and began to walk up the cliffside. He pushed through the pain and muscle fatigue, grunting and straining, and when he thought he couldn't take another step, he would think:

Don't you let her fall, too.

This kept him moving, even though he felt like this body wasn't his anymore. His mind was too busy screaming to register that his arms were growing numb.

Graham barely registered it when they reached the top of the cliff. Vee scrambled up first, giving him a moment to ease up, before she turned back to pull him up behind. As soon as Vee had wrenched him a safe distance away from the edge, Graham's muscles gave way and he collapsed. He shook so severely that he couldn't see straight, the ache in his side exploding with each new tremor.

"I'm sorry," he found himself saying, curled around his middle. "I'm so sorry."

"What on earth are you talking about?" Vee knelt in the snow beside him, hands running over wherever she could reach. "Where are you hurt? Graham, you have to let me see!"

She was finally able to flip him onto his back and pry his hands away from his torso. The world was spinning around in blurs of white and grey, and he was only vaguely aware of Vee lifting his tunic to see the damage.

"Three broken ribs," he heard her mutter sympathetically. "You pulled us up with three broken ribs. What were you thinking?"

He tried to answer but it felt like someone had stuck a hot poker in his lung.

"Graham, you need to sit up now. And stop saying you're sorry."

He hadn't realized he'd been speaking at all, but let her help him into an upright position. The landscape spun slowly back into focus, but his insides were still in chaos.

"It's my fault," he heard himself say, just realizing that hot tears were streaming down his face without his consent. "Amaya could be dead, and it's all my fault."

Vee shushed him. "Now, that's not going to help anyone. Let me see your hand."

Graham shook her off and tried to stand up. "She's around here, I've got to…I've got to…"

"Graham, you're bleeding."

He finally glanced down at his hand. The rope had cut right through, leaving a nasty weeping welt stretching across his palm. He clenched his fist and said, "I'll deal with it once I know I haven't killed Amaya."

"Enough!" Vee's grey eyes looked wild with fury. She whipped out a handkerchief and began to wrap up his hand, and for the first time since yesterday, Graham studied her face. There were small cuts and bruises on her cheeks, probably from brushing through the thick forest all night. Her hair had straggled out of her braid and framed her neck in frizzled, dark strands. She'd never looked less put-together than she did right now.

"I hate it when you beat yourself up like this," Vee hissed. "Yes, you made a mistake, we all do. But killing yourself is not how you're going to find Amaya."

"You don't—"

"I am not finished." Vee tightened her grip on his hand, and it was clear he wasn't going anywhere until she had her say. "You were hurt this whole time and didn't breathe a word of it to either of us. You treated us like we were either too stupid to help, or too cruel not to. You don't always need to pretend you have everything under control when you're obviously suffering." Vee's voice was severe but not unkind as she bandaged his stinging palm. "It's clear you and I are very different people, Graham, and sometimes…I wonder what you see in me at all." She paused for a moment to tie off the bandage, leaving space for Graham to absorb her words. "But you're good, and sometimes good people make mistakes. Whisper told me he doesn't blame you for what happened."

Graham's chest tightened. "He should."

Vee let out an annoyed growl—a noise he'd never heard her utter. "You've got to stop doing that or I'm going to push you back off that cliff! None of this is about you!"

"It is!" Graham shouted. His voice echoed around the trees. "Don't you get it? I've done this before! Do you want to know the real reason I'm king? Do you want to know how I won the tournament? It's because the knight who took me under his wing died. And do you know how?" Graham's throat burned as more tears flowed hot down his face. "I killed him. I did something just as stupid as I did with Amaya, and he died. I am not half the knight or man he was because I keep making the same damn mistakes." Graham's shoulders began to shake as violent sobs wracked his body. Everything hurt. "I don't deserve friends like Amaya, or Whisper, or you. Everything I love, I ruin. I nearly lost you to that bridge, and if Amaya died because of me, I…I…"

Unable to finish, Graham dropped his head and wept. Everything that had stopped the flow to his heart all these years suddenly burst forth like a river, and he cried the ugliest cry he'd ever suffered. After a moment, he was surprised to feel two hesitant hands wrap around his neck, and he instinctively leaned into Vee's touch, putting the whole of his weight into her arms. They sat here for some time. She stroked his head lightly as his tears fell and dampened her hair.

When Graham's jagged breaths finally stabilized, Vee spoke, and he could feel the vibrations of her voice radiating through her chest. "Graham," she said softly. "You are not your mistakes. You know that, right?"

Graham sniffed loudly. "But…"

"You're trying to make things right, and that's all you can do. Save your sorrys for Amaya when we find her. And we will. All right?"

Graham sat up carefully to look Vee in her ruddy face. She had just seen him at his lowest point with all his dark secrets out in the open, but she hadn't even flinched. And at the same time, Vee had just torn into him, mercilessly expressing everything in her heart, even the sharp things that must have hurt as much to say as they were to hear. Strangely enough, he felt like they were seeing each other clearly for the first time.

"All right," he said, and leaning on each other for balance, they followed the Crumbler's trail back into the woods.

* * *

It didn't take long before their trek led them to Whisper. The only think keeping Graham upright was Vee on his arm, making sure he didn't bend over his injury. They found Whisper agitatedly weaving around a clearing of tree stumps.

"Keep up, slowpokes!" said Whisper, squatting down to study a tree stump more closely. "The trail ends here, but no Amaya."

Vee helped Graham pick his way around the fallen branches littering the ground. "She's got to be around here somewhere," Vee muttered.

"Spread out," said Graham, earning a frown from Vee. "It'll be faster this way," he continued in an undertone.

Vee sighed. "Promise you'll let me know if you need help."

Graham squeezed her hand. "I promise," he said truthfully. He'd had enough of trying to handle things on his own.

The three branched out in opposite directions, stepping carefully over the thickets and fallen trees left in the Crumbler's wake. Graham braced himself against anything he could put his weight on as he searched for any sign of his friend. "Come on, Amaya," he mumbled, scanning the ground for tracks. "Please be here."

It was at that moment that Graham heard rustling. He stopped moving with one foot suspended in midair, wobbling slightly, and strained to listen. It sounded like something was moving through the brush. A bird, perhaps? Then, through a clump of pine trees, he could just distinguish the outline of something massive and metal. It was unmistakably the Crumbler crashed onto its side, broken metal bits and gears littering the frozen ground. Graham's heart stopped as he imagined Amaya pinned underneath its iron jaws, unable to move or breathe...

"A-Amaya?" Graham called tentatively. Please be here, please be okay, please…

"Eh?"

Graham jumped at the sudden noise, unsure if it had actually occurred or if it was only his imagination. He took a cautious step forward, peering over a small overhang. "Uh…someone there?"

"Yeah, someone's here."

Graham lurched forward, careful not to slip as he climbed down the rock formation to reach the bottom. He was so focused on keeping himself upright that he nearly stepped on a mess of brown hair.

"Oh—!" Graham looked down to see none other than Amaya lying under the overhanging cleft. She emerged right out of the foliage, sitting up from under her thick coat and some pine branches, massaging her eyes.

"S'about time," Amaya grumbled. Her hair looked like a place for birds to nest, tangled with various twigs and leaves. She appeared pale and weak, but otherwise alive. "Any longer and I would have just given up and died."

"Don't say that!" Graham gasped, furiously hauling the thick branches aside to check her for injuries. He was so overwhelmed with relief, he could barely control his shaking hands as he unclasped his thick, red cape and wrapped it securely around Amaya's shoulders for extra warmth. "Are you hurt?" he asked.

"Sprained ankle," she replied, a slight rasp to her voice. A day and a night in the cold would do that to a person. "I lost control of the Crumbler and hurt my foot trying to get 'er going again. Stupid thing. It's my own fault for adding too much coal to the engine. Serves me right for rushing art, I guess."

"I'm so sorry we didn't get here sooner," said Graham, swallowing against the lump in his throat and gently elevating Amaya's injured ankle. It was red and swollen, but thankfully it didn't look broken. "It's all my fault. I didn't think you were in trouble, and I put it off and…well, I understand if you can't forgive me, but I am really, truly sorry."

"Geez, Graham, you don't need to cry about it. I'm fine, see?"

Graham rubbed his eyes with the back of his sleeve. "I'd just never forgive myself if you…if…"

Amaya nodded weakly, her blue eyes glinting like dull blades. "All right, kid. I get it. You don't need to beat yourself up. But now you know that as soon as someone goes missing, you gotta make use of your time before something bad happens. I'm safe, but you know better now, right?"

He shuddered. "You have no idea."

There was another rustling sound, and Vee soon appeared to see what the commotion was. Her face broke with relief when she saw Amaya, awake and alive.

"AMAYA?!" Whisper suddenly crashed headfirst through the trees right behind Vee, his head whipping around like a wild squirrel in search of nuts. When Whisper laid eyes on Amaya, he barreled straight towards her so fast that Graham was afraid he'd crash right into her. But Whisper skidded to a stop before that happened, kneeling and tenderly cupping her cold face in his hands. "My love!" he cried. "You're alive!"

Amaya smiled feebly. "Hey, you big lug."

Whisper ripped off his large, metal helmet so he could lean down and kiss her. Graham stopped and stared at Whisper's clean-shaven face, pale skin, and long sandy hair swept up into a bun. He'd never seen Whisper's boyish face before…come to think of it, he'd never seen Whisper's anything before.

"Oh, my dearest, most beautiful snow rabbit," Whisper tutted, tearing up. "Your poor, delicate foot is hurt. Are you in a lot of pain?"

She nuzzled his face. "Don't fuss. I think the king looks worse off than I do."

As if on cue, Graham swayed on the spot, and Vee hurried over to hold him steady. "Let's get you back home," Graham grunted, "and I'll have our best doctors fix you right up."

Amaya smiled her thanks. "You heard the man. Can you get me back to civilization, twinkle-toes?"

"That, Whisper can do." Without wavering, Whisper wrapped Graham's crimson cape more securely around Amaya's frame and scooped her carefully into his arms as if she were made of glass. His face was glowing pink with relief. "Are you coming, Graham? Princess?"

Graham took a step and felt a wave of nausea crash over him. He balked. "Uh…"

"You two go on, we'll catch up," Vee said quickly. "Graham went and broke his ribs."

Whisper gasped, Amaya winced, and Graham tried to laugh it off, but his cracked ribcage screamed in protest. "I am fine," he said, feeling like he was going to hurl. "Now, go get Amaya to safety. That's a direct order from the king."

"You look like you're dying," Amaya chuckled from her perch.

Graham tried to give her a convincing sneer. "If I was dying, could I do this?"

Whatever it was he was trying to do, he never got a chance to do it, because he felt the ground coming up to meet him and he promptly blacked out.


	6. Party Fever

**Party Fever**

Graham awoke disoriented and confused, white morning light burning his eyelids. He blinked rapidly, wondering where he was, and the room came slowly into focus. From here he could make out a fire crackling in the fireplace, windows that stretched from floor to ceiling, and clothes and books strewn about every surface. He was in his bedroom, unsure how he'd gotten back or just how long he'd been there.

It took Graham a moment to realize that he was sitting upright, supported by at least twenty pillows on all sides to prevent him from blowing over like a stack of papers. How long had he been sitting like this? He tried to roll his sore neck, and immediately regretted it. The dull pain in his side flared up with a vengeance.

"Don't move," came a voice Graham recognized as Vee's. She appeared like a mirage, framed by the pale daylight, and approached to sit on the edge of his bed. "Sorry you can't lie down. I know it's not ideal, but the doctor says you need to sleep vertically for a while."

Graham swallowed, the events of the previous day crashing back in a wave of soreness and inner turmoil. "Where's…?"

"Amaya's fine," said Vee gently. "Mild hypothermia and a sprained ankle, but she's on bedrest."

"She's going to hate that," he remarked, relaxing back with relief. His eyes wandered to the easy chair in the corner, noticing what looked like an envelope open on the mussed blanket, and he couldn't help but think that the chair looked recently slept in.

"How did I end up here?" he asked, staring stupidly as Vee adjusted his pillows, her pretty brow furrowed in concentration.

Vee bit her bottom lip. "You fainted, and Whisper carried you and Amaya back to the castle. The bridge was out, so it took a little longer to go around, but he got you both back safely."

Graham's cheeks warmed as he imagined Whisper hauling his unconscious body over his shoulder like a sack of flour. Of course everyone had been there to witness it. "Ah…I see."

Graham stilled beneath Vee's touch as she lifted the bottom of his cotton shirt to study his bruised ribcage. In an effort to avert his blushing face, Graham happened to glance back to Vee's chair. "Is that a letter?" he asked, nodding to the note sitting opened on the blanket.

"Ah…yes," Vee said, a little sheepishly. "It was addressed to you but…it was from Neese, and I haven't heard from her in months and…"

Graham chuckled, but it hurt so he stopped. "You're quite lucky I find your impudence charming. What did it say?"

Vee let out a forlorn little sigh, doubling back to fetch the letter and hand it to him. "She sends her love, but she regrets to inform you that she can't attend the festival today. Something important came up."

Graham frowned, although he knew that his disappointment was probably nothing compared to Vee's. He meant to say something comforting, but then it hit him like a chair to the back of the head:

Today.

Today was Badger Day.

"Oh, no," uttered Graham. He'd been out cold for twenty-four hours, and that meant that he'd missed the crucial Badger Day ceremony preparations. He still hadn't signed off on the caramel corn stand or the fireworks, and he didn't know if the official Badger Day badger still had that sore throat, not to mention Graham had a speech to deliver, and he hadn't even started writing it yet.

Vee read his vacant expression and quickly said, "I talked with Larry last night, and we've taken care of everything. The food, the music, the events, and the badger. And all you have to do is show up during the ceremony." She tucked in the bedsheets and didn't meet his eyes. "We…I didn't want you to have to worry about anything but getting better, so I…I just hope you don't mind…"

Graham gazed at Vee fumbling with the pillows, resisting the sudden urge to reach out and hug her. "Thank you," he said sincerely. "You may have just saved my life."

Vee suppressed a smile. "Well, you did save mine, so I guess we're even."

The two sat in embarrassed silence for a minute, and as if to busy herself, Vee took his injured hand and began to adjust the bandage. The gesture sparked memories of their treacherous climb the day before, and Graham found himself thinking over all the words they'd exchanged during their meltdowns in the snow. Looking back, her words had been cut from ice, but they had not been unwelcome. It was refreshing to hear her speak her mind in the manner she did. One thing in particular hovered at the edge of his subconscious, and Graham knew that if there was a time to be forthright, it was now.

"Yesterday you said you didn't know what I see in you," he said candidly.

Vee immediately stopped what she was doing, a blush creeping into her cheeks. "Oh…did I say that? There was so much going on, I don't…"

"What did you mean?"

Vee clasped her hands in her lap. "I…I've been trying to keep myself composed this week, because that's just what I do. But I really don't understand it, Graham. I don't."

"What?"

She waved her hands as if that would help articulate her thoughts. "I'm me," she said at last. "I know I can be very…sharp. And critical. My tutors have called me a know-it-all. Even Neese has asked me not to be so disapproving." Vee sighed heavily, composure failing. "On the other end, you are so…good. I've never met anyone with as sweet a disposition, and in a king, that's an even rarer quality."

Graham blinked in surprise. He never would have guessed that she'd been thinking these things about him. Her composure all week had been so collected and self-possessed that he didn't consider for a moment that she was suffering in silence.

"Your generosity astounds me," Vee continued without restraint. "You'd do anything for your kingdom and you love your people, and even when you're being stupid about it, you're the most selfless person I know. I just do not understand why you'd…waste your time with someone who doesn't match your good character. And I can't address my feelings for you until I know for certain that you truly share them."

Graham sat astounded, knowing full-well that his mouth was hanging open dumbly. "Vee," he began, swallowing against the vast sense of adoration welling up. "I love everything you are."

Vee shot him a doubtful look, so he continued ardently, "You may see yourself as too critical, but you're fearless. I don't want you to ever hold back what you're thinking. Your good opinion is all I wanted, and I was so afraid that I'd lost it."

"Please, stop," she said, covering her mouth in embarrassment.

"No!" he declared. "I won't! You are brave and kind, witty and beautiful, and you're not afraid to go traipsing through the woods to rescue someone you barely know. I would most certainly say that you have good character."

She seemed to be trying very hard to suppress a bout of self-conscious laughter. "Graham…"

"And furthermore," he said, reaching over with his good hand to clasp hers, "this whole week I've been stumbling over myself trying to impress you. That alone should tell you that your character drives me absolutely mad."

Vee finally looked into his face, her eyes shimmering like the surface of a sea. She tilted her head as though trying to solve an impossible riddle. "Why did you have to be so wonderful?" she asked softly.

Cautiously, he reached up to graze her cheek with his fingers. She was so soft and warm, and his heart thudded deafeningly in his chest as she leaned towards him, rosy lips parted slightly. He could nearly taste her breath in his mouth, and he closed his eyes in the anticipation of a kiss…

"Sire!" boomed a sudden voice as someone crashed into the room. Graham and Vee jerked apart, both furiously red.

"Y-yes, Larry?" Graham stammered, sitting up as straight as a soldier. Vee slinked to the far corner of the bed, stifling mortified giggles.

"I have come to report the progress of the party preparations!" proclaimed the knight, holding up a scroll to eye-level. He didn't seem to realize that he'd interrupted anything. "And progress is…complete!"

Graham pressed his lips together, unable to contain the frustration bubbling up like a screeching kettle. "You could have left that report on my desk, Larry," he said frostily.

Larry cocked his head blankly, turning his head from Graham to Vee. It finally seemed to dawn on him what he'd disrupted, and he said, "Oh… your desk. Right. Pardon me." And he ducked out of the room, shutting the door securely behind.

"Well," breathed Vee, straightening her dress. "I suppose if you have work to do, I should—"

But she was quickly cut off by Graham's hand on her wrist as he yanked her back across the bed and pulled her into the kiss he'd been previously denied. She let out a small moan of surprise as their lips locked, but she soon melted into his touch, hands resting flat on his chest. Graham cupped her face tenderly and pulled her in deeper, shivering slightly at the taste of her tongue and the sensation of her fingers branding the base of his neck. It seemed everywhere she touched left a scorching mark.

"And I love your hair," Graham breathed into her mouth.

"Shut up," she replied, trying to kiss him again.

"And your lips," he continued brazenly. "And your—mmh—your passion for books, and—mmfh—Vee, please…"

"Then stop talking," she laughed, planting a kiss on the tip of his nose.

"I won't," he said, lovingly peppering her lips and face between each word. "I'm the king, and I'll do as I please."

"Well, that's a nice thought, but not entirely true."

He froze in confusion, mouth on hers. "Huh?" he said, voice muffled.

Vee grinned against his chin and pulled away. "Don't you remember our wager? Our race? The first one to reach the castle claimed ownership of Daventry. Technically, I won."

Graham's eyes widened considerably, lips still puckered in the air. "I was delayed," he said. "Whisper kind of crashed into me."

"Rules are rules."

She was, of course, right. "I suppose…I can't go back on my word, can I?"

Vee shrugged. "Don't beat yourself up too harshly. I've only been pretending to be smitten to gain your kingdom. There's no way you could have known I was using you this whole time."

Graham tried to play along with the game, but he could not suppress the goofy smirk threatening to break. "Aw," he said. "You were pretending to be smitten by me?"

She gave his shoulder a playful slap. "Don't flatter yourself."

"All right, then. The throne is yours, but the people are going to be a little confused when you show up to Badger Day wearing my crown and cape."

Her brow knitted in deep thought. "You'll do as my puppet, then, and I'll just have to stay by your side so you can carry out my orders tonight. Yes?"

Graham sighed, overcome with affection. "As long as I get to be beside you," he said.

Vee could not help but roll her eyes. "You really are the sweetest man I've ever known," she said, and leaned back into his kiss.

* * *

Because of his wounds, Graham dressed very slowly with the assistance of two other guards. He would have argued that it took even longer with Kyle and Larry stumbling over each other trying to "help", and after they had knocked over a candlestick and nearly set the rug on fire, Graham kicked them out of the room and finished dressing on his own.

He adjusted his winter blue tunic and donned his red fur-lined cape—the one he'd lent to Amaya. He found it hanging on the rack with a tiny note pinned to the collar, and he immediately recognized the chicken-scratch for Amaya's handwriting:

 _Graham—_

 _Figured you'd need this back. Took me twenty minutes to look through all the pockets._

 _It was really heavy, so I emptied out all the rocks you had in there, for whatever reason._

Graham frowned. "Aw," he muttered. "I was going to use those."

 _I hope you're not dead by the time you get this back. If not, I'll see you at the festival._

 _Bye,_

 _Amaya_

 _P.S. Thanks for buying breakfast for me and Whisper. He had six muffins._

Graham dug into the already-suspiciously light pocket and pulled out his coin purse. He turned it upside-down to find that it was empty.

"Well, I guess I deserved that," he muttered.

When he was adequately dressed, Graham shuffled out of the room, wincing with every step. He leaned against the doorframe, head spinning, and wondered how he was going to make it through the evening without collapsing.

"May I accompany you, your majesty?"

It was Vee, appearing to slip her arm through the crook of his elbow, supporting his weight. Graham glanced down to marvel at her appearance: she was wrapped in a velvet emerald gown and a grey cloak with gold trim and an elegant clasp. Her dark hair was half swept up in a bun while the rest fell in loose coils around her slender neck and shoulders. He must have been staring for quite some time, because Vee shook him gently to snap him out of his reverie.

"It's impolite to stare," she told him.

"I'll try to keep that to a minimum," he replied cheekily.

It really was the perfect arrangement: if Vee remained on Graham's arm for the evening, he could lean on her when he needed to, all the while posing as her escort. Because a glove wouldn't fit over his bandaged hand, he slipped it into the folds of his cloak to hide the injury. Overall, their appearance together looked very regal indeed, and not at all like Graham was ready to fall over if she left his side. Together, they left the castle and made their way to the town square where the festival was well underway.

Though the air was icy, it was no match for the heat radiating from the center of town. An enormous bonfire crackled merrily, casting orange light on the passersby while paper lanterns glimmered like stars overhead. The band onstage strummed their violins and struck their tambourines, and the music carried like a warm breeze through the dancing throngs of people. Graham and Vee navigated carefully around the masses, nodding greetings and wishing an early Spring. When an opening appeared, Vee dragged them towards the smithy where they could just make out Amaya and a very broad-chested man sitting side-by-side under a thick plaid blanket. On second glance, Graham could see that the sandy-haired man was indeed Whisper, out in public wearing a simple yellow tunic, warm trousers, and leather boots. He looked like any other resident of Daventry.

Whisper fussed over Amaya, propping her ankle up on a wooden box and tightening the blanket around her shoulders. The un-armored Whisper waved them over, and Graham was all too happy to take a short rest on a nearby barrel.

"Lookin' good, your majesty," Amaya remarked, starting to nudge him in the shoulder but then thinking better of it. "Look: we're crippled buddies."

Graham let out a humorless laugh. "If I was crippled, could I do this?" Focusing all his strength, Graham bent his arm into an almost-impressive flex, his bicep bulging under his tunic. He grinned smugly. Vee covered her face in her hand.

"Taught him everything he knows," said Amaya fondly, and then added, "Except the last time you did that, you blacked out."

"Oh, _that's_ what I was trying to do!" he said. "Cool."

Whisper handed Graham and Vee each a cocoa, which they sipped gratefully. "Whisper is very surprised to see you up and about, Graham," he said.

"Well, I'm very surprised to see you…well, you," said Graham, gesturing to Whisper's entire self.

"It's nice to put a face to the deeds," chimed Vee with reassurance.

Whisper blinked his large brown eyes (he had brown eyes—who knew?) before clearing his throat. "Ahem. Yes, I suppose it's quite daunting for you to see Daventry's greatest knight stripped of his pomp and frills. Rest assured that this is only temporary, as Amaya isn't fit to fix my armor at present."

"I don't know," said Amaya, "I kind of like being able to, you know, actually read your expressions. But that's just me."

Whisper nuzzled her neck in a sickeningly sweet way. "You will always have that privilege above all others, my love."

Graham, feeling a bit awkward, turned away to watch the dance taking place in center square. Dresses and cloaks twirled like pinwheels, hands clapped, and the joviality of his people brought a smile easily to his face. If it weren't for his weak state, Graham would have grabbed Vee by the hand and yanked her right in to enjoy the fun. Even she was watching the dancers with a look of longing.

"You don't have to stay here on my account," Graham told her in an undertone.

Vee smiled appreciatively. "I'm not great at joining in."

"Hey," Amaya said, elbowing Whisper to his feet. "If you're going to dance, will you take this one with you? He's been itching to get out there all evening."

Whisper made an excited sound and rushed over to take Vee's hand. "Will you do me the honor?" he asked, then added, "If it's all right with the king."

"Technically, she's the king now," said Graham. Then in response to a prod from Vee, he added, "Never mind. Long story."

Vee turned to Whisper and dipped into a perfect curtsey, one only a true royal could achieve. "The honor is mine, Ser Knight," she said, shooting Graham a wink before the two skipped off to join the dance.

Graham and Amaya watched their respective persons dip in and out of formation, stepping and twirling to match the music. Graham found himself unable to tear his gaze away from Vee's face, which perfectly caught the firelight and held it in her eyes like sparkling candles. She spun and leapt and pirouetted in time, and every time she passed Graham's position, he would wait on bated breath for the moment that her glittering eyes would meet his. He cherished the distinct sound of her laugh ringing above the crowd like the sweetest note of a violin singing above an orchestra.

"You like her or something?" Amaya asked.

"Shut up," he replied without tearing his eyes away.

"How's the old ribcage?" she asked.

"Not great. But anything to get you back, right?"

Graham felt Amaya's hand on his head then, shoving his hat aside and ruffling his hair like she used to do back when he was a spindly teenager and a fresh apprentice.

"I'm proud of you," Amaya said, as bluntly as though she was commenting on the weather.

Graham felt a lump catch in his throat and said nothing, afraid he'd start blubbering. He still wasn't sure he deserved her esteem or her forgiveness, but he also knew it was best to move on from here. If she believed in him, well then, that was enough.

When the dance had concluded and it came time for the ceremony, Vee helped Graham onto the small stage, clinging to his arm as though afraid he'd topple over. The townsfolk gathered before him; a sea of cold faces brightened by the anticipation of his upcoming speech. Even though Graham felt like an arrow was jabbing his side, he still smiled down at his people with an overwhelming sense of gratitude.

"Thank you all for attending this year's Badger Day Festival!" he called out over the crowd. Graham's voice didn't hold its usual vibrato, but the people responded with enthusiastic applause to make up for his faintness. "I hope you're all keeping warm this evening. Today I have the lovely Princess Valanice of Eastern Kolyma visiting with us."

There were whistles from the masses, to which Vee nodded graciously. Graham loved how comfortable she looked at his side, and though he hadn't had time to prepare a speech, he hoped that the spontaneity would help him convey how full his heart felt at this moment.

"We've braved quite a few winters in our time here," said Graham, hoping his voice was loud enough to carry. "In all my years, I have witnessed Daventry grow into a place of warmth despite the cold months." He paused to pick out Amaya and Whisper sitting at their spot behind the crowd. Vee squeezed his arm under the cloak. "I cannot express how honored I am to be part of a kingdom that opens up its hearth to strangers, forgives freely, and loves without condition. Thank you all for building this kingdom on your courage and kindness. I am proud to be your king."

There was a round of heartened applause, and even though Graham knew he'd gone to a sentimental place, he deemed the mushiness necessary. He nodded over to Amaya, to Whisper, and then squeezed Vee's hand within the hidden folds of the cloak.

"And now with that out of the way," Graham continued, "Bring forth Shadow the Badger, if you please!"

The townsfolk went wild with approval as Kyle and Larry stepped onto the platform. They held aloft a plush red pillow, and on it sat a very grouchy-looking black badger. There were thunderous cries of jubilation as they set the badger onto the stage. People screamed and brandished homemade signs, waved flags printed with badgers, and stomped their feet to urge the festivities.

"They certainly seem enthusiastic," Vee whispered in Graham's ear.

"Oh, they love the little guy," Graham whispered back, just as they witnessed a group of boys rip off their shirts to reveal letters painted haphazardly on their shivering pale torsos. Side-by-side, they spelled, _WE LOVE YOU SHADWO._

"Close enough," said Vee.

"HE IS THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM!" the fanboys proclaimed to roars of approval.

Graham made a show of signaling the square for silence, and a hush fell so suddenly that the last cry cut off and echoed around the stones, reverberating underfoot. On cue, Larry picked the surly badger back off the ground and held him up to Graham's ear, as if Shadow could only speak through the king. After a moment waiting on bated breath, Graham nodded solemnly and turned to his people.

"My friends," he began solemnly.

There were scattered sounds of disappointment before Graham continued, "Daventry will have an early Spring!"

The reaction was explosive. The entire town erupted in shouts of delight and the band struck up a merry tune to carry the thrill along. The people rejoiced with chants of "Spring! Spring! Spring!" and jumped right back into an impromptu dance.

Amidst the celebration, Graham was quickly overcome with a surge of queasiness and stumbled backwards into the curtain. It seemed that all the excitement had dried up his supply of adrenaline. Luckily, Vee was there to dig him out of the curtain without anyone noticing.

"Shall we get you back to bed?" she asked.

He bowed his head gratefully. "You're an angel," he muttered.

She chuckled, and her sly kiss burned his cheek. "Save your flatteries for when I've managed to get you safely inside."

The two left the stage, taking care to avoid the rowdier folk as they slinked back up the path to the castle. No one seemed to notice—too enthralled with Shadow's presence—and this suited Graham perfectly fine. He was more than happy to lean the bulk of his weight on Vee's frame, who graciously supported him all the way up the stone steps into the main hall of the castle, and then up another flight to his chambers. She helped him into his bedroom, reaching up to remove the heavy drapery of his cape.

"Wait," he said, stopping her hands. "They'll be starting soon."

Vee raised one eyebrow. "Have you forgotten why you're here?"

Graham ignored her and staggered over to the balcony doors, Vee hurrying to catch him before he fell over the edge.

"Graham, I think your fever's back, you're acting ridiculous," she said.

The brisk air hit his hot face as they reentered the outdoors. "I just need to show you something."

"If you're talking about the fireworks, I already know about those. I helped plan this whole thing, remember?"

He shushed her. "Just pretend to be surprised."

"Honestly, you really should be in bed. I'm sure we'll be able to see them from the windows."

Graham took both of her hands, ignoring his lightheadedness. "I'm just trying to orchestrate a romantic moment with you before I pass out again, all right?" he said. "Please?"

Vee's expression wavered between exasperation and affection as he tenderly kissed her knuckles. "Fine, but this had better be good," she said, just as the first loud pop broke the air and the dusky sky exploded with color. Faint cheers erupted from the town below, followed by another barrage of white and gold bursts, leaving a dusting of sparkles to fade before the next wave. The two watched the fireworks together, hands entwined, flashes of pink and blue lighting up their skin and hair. The consecutive pops energized the night and filled Graham with something warm and anxious.

"Vee, I love you," he breathed, the thought materializing into words before he could stop it. "I…sorry, I didn't know if you knew that yet, so…"

At first, he thought she hadn't heard him, as she was fixed pointedly on the lights display. Then, Vee's gaze flicked to him, gold and purple bursts reflecting off the surface of her eyes like stars. Her smile lit up her face more than the flares in the sky.

"I love you too, you idiot."

Vee stood on her tiptoes to press a kiss onto his mouth, her lips balmy against his. Graham kissed her back with fervor, falling headfirst as the tips of her fingers tangled themselves in his hair. His head spun deliriously, and it had nothing to do with his oncoming fever. As Graham was reaching to tighten his grip around Vee's waist, he felt the familiar stab of his injury shoot up his side. He let out a pained growl and reluctantly pulled away, dragging Vee's bottom lip along with him. His face felt flush with fire.

"You're burning up," she noted, cool palm brushing against his brow. "Come on."

He didn't complain as Vee took him back inside and put him right to bed, arranging the pillows so he could remain upright, to his chagrin. Even though the position was not ideal, this didn't stop the overwhelming lethargy overtake him.

"I'm fine," he mumbled, the room dipping in and out of consciousness.

"Sleep," she told him. "I'll get medicine."

He groped around the mattress for her hand. "Don't go," he said, squeezing it tightly.

Graham relaxed as he felt her lips against his weary eyelids. "I'm here," she whispered. "Sleep."

Despite the explosions booming just outside his bedroom window, Graham slept more peacefully this night than he had in a very long time.


End file.
